Your Pharma Customer Is Asking for a Carbon Footprint and an SBTi Target. Here's What to Do.

Jul 9

If you supply goods or services to a pharmaceutical company, something has probably landed in your inbox recently: a sustainability questionnaire, an updated RFP with new environmental requirements, or a direct request for your carbon footprint and a science-based emissions reduction target.

This is not going away. Companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific, AstraZeneca, GSK, and Merck have made supplier sustainability a formal part of procurement, and the requirements are specific, tracked, and tied to contract decisions.

Here is what is behind the request, what you need to produce, and how to get it done.

Why this is happening now

Large pharmaceutical companies have set aggressive climate targets. The problem is that most of their emissions do not come from their own facilities. They come from their supply chains.

AstraZeneca has committed to having 95% of spend with key suppliers at companies with SBTi-approved targets. Thermo Fisher has set a goal for 90% of its suppliers by spend to have science-based targets in place by 2027. GSK requires its suppliers to disclose emissions, set SBTi-aligned reduction targets with delivery plans, and transition to renewable energy. These companies, along with Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and others, are founding members of Energize, a cross-industry program pushing shared pharma suppliers toward renewable energy adoption.

The mechanism is Scope 3 emissions accounting. When a pharmaceutical company calculates its full carbon footprint, your emissions appear in their supply chain under purchased goods and services. If you cannot provide actual data, they estimate your footprint using industry averages. That is less accurate, increasingly unacceptable to their investors, and a risk factor in renewal and sourcing decisions. The pressure on them flows to you.

What each company is actually asking for

The specific requirements vary by company, but the pattern is consistent. Here is what the major pharmaceutical buyers have published.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher's Supplier Sustainability Hub outlines two formal pathways for suppliers: set a validated SBTi target, or set a publicly stated absolute Scope 1 and 2 reduction target. Suppliers confirm compliance by submitting documentation directly to Thermo Fisher's supplier responsibility team. EcoVadis assessment is also required for all suppliers.

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca's Supplier Sustainability Hub sets out three formal requirements embedded in their Expectations of Third Parties:

Report ESG information to EcoVadis annually, with a minimum score of 45 required
Disclose emissions data to CDP annually
Set science-based targets through SBTi

Suppliers spending over $1.3 million annually with AstraZeneca must participate in CDP. AstraZeneca covers the CDP fees for invited suppliers. Suppliers below that threshold must disclose emissions via EcoVadis. Non-participation in CDP when requested may result in removal from preferred supplier lists. Third-party verification with at least limited assurance is required for any emissions data used in AstraZeneca's own reporting.

GSK

GSK's supplier sustainability program requires suppliers to disclose emissions, set SBTi-aligned carbon reduction targets with delivery plans, and transition to renewable power and heat. Additional requirements include water neutrality in water-stressed areas, 10% waste reduction, and alignment to GSK's responsible sourcing minimum standards. GSK also conducts EcoVadis assessments and audits suppliers against Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative guidelines.

Novartis
Novartis has published a standalone Environmental Sustainability Criteria for Suppliers that functions as a contractual standard. It requires suppliers to set science-based targets through SBTi, establish annual external reporting through either CDP or EcoVadis including the carbon module, and provide third-party verified environmental footprint data upon request. By 2025, these criteria had been embedded in 97% of Novartis supplier contracts, up from 76% the prior year.

Merck & Co. (US)
Merck & Co.'s environmental sustainability program sets out specific timelines for supplier requirements: measure Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and report CO2 data by 2025, set SBTi-aligned GHG reduction targets by 2026, and achieve net-zero no later than 2050. Merck uses both CDP and EcoVadis to evaluate supplier performance and encourages suppliers to disclose through both platforms. The company has its own validated SBTi net-zero target and publishes annual CDP disclosures, setting a clear expectation that suppliers follow the same path.

Pfizer
Pfizer has committed to having 64% of its suppliers by spend with science-based targets in place and has set expectations that suppliers establish SBTi-aligned GHG reduction goals as part of its own path to net-zero by 2040. Pfizer's 2024 Impact Report frames supplier engagement as central to its commitment to reduce value chain emissions by 90% from 2019 levels by 2040.

In all cases, the starting point is the same: your carbon footprint that gives them actual data to work with, and a credible commitment to reduce it.

What the SBTi process actually involves

SBTi has a simplified pathway for small and medium-sized enterprises, which is where many companies in this position will land.

Under the SME route, you commit to reducing your Scope 1 and 2 emissions by at least 4.2% per year, in line with a 1.5 degree Celsius trajectory. You do not go through the full validation process required of large companies, but you are required to disclose annual progress.

The inventory comes first. You cannot commit to a credible reduction without knowing your starting point. Baseline first, then target. That is the correct order.

How long this takes

For an office-based company without a complex supply chain, a first GHG inventory covering Scope 1 and 2 can typically be completed in four to six weeks, assuming the necessary data is available. An SBTi commitment can follow within a few weeks of that.

Data collection is usually the bottleneck. You will need utility bills, fuel use records, vehicle data if applicable, and a breakdown of your office locations. Multiple offices or landlord-controlled energy adds time.

The methodology is well established. What takes time is collecting the right data, applying it correctly, and producing output that holds up to scrutiny from a procurement or sustainability team that has seen a lot of these.

What to send your customer in the meantime

If you have received a request with a deadline before you can complete a full inventory, respond clearly rather than going silent or submitting incomplete information.

A short note explaining that you are initiating your first GHG inventory, have engaged outside support to complete it, and expect results by a specific date is a reasonable interim response. Pharmaceutical procurement teams encounter this regularly with smaller suppliers and generally respond better to a credible plan than to silence.

Where to start

Read the request carefully and separate the mandatory items from the optional ones. Most pharmaceutical supplier sustainability requirements include a short list of required deliverables and a longer list of preferred ones.

The mandatory items are almost always the carbon footprint and the reduction target. Everything else, like EcoVadis or policies, can follow in subsequent reporting cycles.

Once you know what is required, the question is whether you have the internal capacity to handle the inventory and target-setting, or whether you need outside support. For most companies at this stage, outside support is the practical answer. Not because the work is out of reach, but because getting it right the first time, in a format that a sophisticated customer will accept, requires specific methodology knowledge.

If you want to talk through what this would look like for your company, get in touch or learn more about consulting services like fractional ESG support and a carbon footprint.

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