Swiss healthcare leader Roche has announced an ambitious roadmap to reach net-zero emissions by 2045, targeting a 90% absolute reduction across its full value chain—a plan now validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in line with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement threshold.
The move places Roche among a small cohort of pharmaceutical companies with net-zero targets recognized as science-aligned, reinforcing the sector’s growing accountability for climate impacts across product lifecycles and supply networks.
“Planetary health and human health are interconnected,” said Silke Hörnstein, Roche’s Head of Corporate Strategy and Sustainability. “We are prioritizing significant reductions across our entire value chain.”
Short-Term Goals and Supply Chain Transformation
By 2029, Roche aims to:
- Cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 70% from 2022 levels (including emissions from operations and purchased electricity)
- Reduce Scope 3 emissions by 22.5%, which represent about 95% of the company’s total carbon footprint, covering everything from business travel to product distribution
- Ensure 70% of its suppliers (by emissions) set their own science-based targets, embedding climate ambition across its ecosystem
To support these efforts, Roche is rapidly transitioning to 100% renewable electricity by 2025—already at 86% in 2024—and enhancing energy efficiency across its global manufacturing and research operations.
Long-Term Vision and Carbon Removal
Roche’s 2045 net-zero strategy includes:
- A 90% absolute emissions reduction across Scopes 1, 2, and 3
- Use of durable carbon removal technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, to offset the final 10%, ensuring emissions are neutralized permanently
The plan builds on Roche’s history of environmental leadership, but also reflects growing investor and regulatory pressure on large corporations to decarbonize comprehensively—not just operationally.
With this commitment, Roche signals its role not only as a leader in healthcare innovation, but also as a steward of environmental and planetary health—positioning sustainability as central to long-term business resilience and global well-being.
