Daiichi Sankyo and pharma's supply-chain footprint

As Scope 3 disclosure expectations expand globally, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly confronting the scale of emissions embedded across their supply chains.

Recent sustainability disclosures from Daiichi Sankyo highlight how significant this challenge can be.

The company reports roughly 4.16 million tCO₂e in Scope 3 emissions for FY2024, compared with about 89k tCO₂e in Scope 1 and ~25k tCO₂e in Scope 2. In other words, the vast majority of the climate footprint sits across suppliers, materials, and product distribution rather than internal operations.

A similar pattern appears across the sector. For example, Chugai Pharmaceutical reports roughly 981k tCO₂e in Scope 3, again far exceeding operational emissions.

This structure reflects the reality of modern pharmaceutical production: complex global supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), contract manufacturing, and specialized materials.

As disclosure frameworks expand, from TCFD-aligned reporting to evolving Scope 3 requirements in major markets, companies are under increasing pressure to demonstrate credible reductions across these value chains.

That raises an important strategic question for the industry: how suppliers, manufacturers, and partners collaborate to reduce emissions across shared production ecosystems.

How are pharmaceutical companies approaching supplier decarbonization across their global value chains today?

Daiichi Sankyo US Julie Gregory