Our Approach to Climate Action

s a healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson understands that climate health affects human health. Research shows that climate change is impacting health in many ways, including changing infectious disease patterns, increasing extreme weather events and heat and the risk of drought and food insecurity. We have taken sustained, long-term action to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and we encourage our suppliers to do the same. We also work with like-minded partners to advance environmental health equity.

To do our part to help maintain a healthy climate, we’ve set our most ambitious climate goals to date, building on our past achievements while accelerating future actions. Specifically, we are committed to:

• By 2025, source 100% of our electricity needs from renewable sources.

• By 2030, achieve carbon neutrality for our operations, going beyond our Science-Based Target to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions 60% from 2016 levels.

• By 2030, reduce absolute upstream value chain (Scope 3) emissions 20% from 2016 levels.

Our operational emissions goal has been validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as being consistent with the reductions required to keep global warming to 1.5°C.

We are also proud signatories of the Race to Zero/ Business Ambition for 1.5 campaign and have an ambition to achieve net zero carbon emissions across our value chain by 2045.

Advancing Renewable Electricity

We are wasting no time making progress towards our renewable electricity goal, because we know there is no time to waste. Today, over 65% of our global electricity use comes from renewable sources. We have built more than 50 on-site renewable energy systems on properties in 20 countries and have executed 15 contracts for off-site renewable electricity procurement. Additionally, we have finalized multiple a deals in the U.S., Canada and Brazil that, when operational, will allow us to source the equivalent of 100% renewable electricity for our operations in these countries.

100% Renewable Electricity in Europe

We are now producing or procuring the equivalent of 100% of our electricity in our European operations* from renewable sources. In total, 12 countries where we have J&J MedTech and Janssen operations are included: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

This achievement comes thanks to three deals that led to the construction of two new wind farms and one new solar field in Spain, adding to our existing on-site and off-site electricity projects.

^{*Johnson & Johnson property sites larger than 50,000 ft2 where the company has operational control}

Our Renewable Electricity Footprint*

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Delivering Energy Efficiency

Through our CO₂ Capital Relief Program we allocate up to $40 million per year for energy efficiency programs at our most energy-intensive manufacturing and R&D sites. Each project must show the potential for both emissions reductions and a financial return of at least 15%. Since we started the program in 2005, we’ve completed approximately 270 projects that have helped us avoid around 320,000 metric tons of GHG per year.

Tapping Into New Energy Sources

For decades we have been focused on driving energy efficiency across our operations, but reaching our climate goals will require us to go beyond efficiency projects and renewable electricity. For example, we continue to expand our use of geothermal energy to provide substantial reductions in GHG emissions. At our Janssen campus in Beerse, Belgium multiple wells, each approximately 1.6 miles deep, were completed and will use innovative geothermal energy to help heat and cool buildings across the site. At our Ethicon campus in Cincinnati, Ohio (U.S.), we installed a closed-loop, geothermal system with the capacity to provide heating and cooling to the entire 45-acre campus while substantially reducing emissions.

Engaging Our Suppliers

We know that a collaborative approach is essential to tackle today’s greatest environmental challenges, and we have been working for years with our suppliers to accelerate environmental and social improvements across our value chain. Looking to the future, we have committed to expanding the Johnson & Johnson Supplier Sustainability Program to include all suppliers by 2025. This means there will be even more opportunities for engagement and collaboration on our joint environmental and social priorities.

Collaborating for Greater Impact

In 2021, we joined with 9 other leaders in the pharmaceutical industry to launch Energize, a first-of-its-kind initiative to help decarbonize the global pharmaceutical supply chain. The program aims to educate key industry suppliers on renewable procurement opportunities and help them in their transition to renewable energy. The program has registered hundreds of suppliers on the platform.

In 2022, we announced a new collaboration called Activate, bringing together five pharmaceutical companies to support active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) suppliers in their decarbonization efforts.

For many years, we’ve participated in coalitions that publicly support actions to promote a low carbon economy and mitigate climate change at scale. For example, we work with other companies and organizations through the Clean Energy Buyers Alliance and the Climate Leadership Council to share best practices and encourage the advancement of renewable energy and market-based climate policies. Additionally, we have supported the Paris Climate Agreement through various platforms such as the ‘We Are Still In/America Is All In' campaign, and we were proud to join other companies and investors in signing an open letter to President Biden calling for an ambitious U.S. emissions reduction target. You can read more in our Position on Climate Action.

Click here to read about our work with partners to support solutions for climate change and human health.