Headlines are increasingly dominated with news of high-profile organizations – from Unilever to BP – walking back or watering down their green targets. These announcements are often accompanied by executives citing the need to ‘focus on profits’, suggesting that net zero initiatives inevitably syphon efforts and attention away from financial goals. The 2024 Annual Report from multinational pharmaceutical giant GSK, however, tells a different story – one where both profit and planet get a happy ending.
The headline: GSK has reported strong financial performance through 2024 alongside reductions in its GHG emissions, water use and overall environmental impact.
The targets:
- By 2030, GSK aims to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from a 2020 baseline.
- By 2030, GSK aims to reduce water use by 20% from a 2020 baseline.
- By 2045, it aims to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its full value chain with a 90% absolute reduction in emissions from a 2020 baseline and all residual emissions neutralized.
The results:
- GSK achieved group sales of £31.4 billion ($39.7 billion) in 2024, representing an 8% increase from 2023.
- The organization also saw its core operating profit grow by 13%.
- It reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by a further 12% throughout the year, contributing to a total reduction of 36% since 2020.
- GSK met its water reduction target 8 years early, in 2022 – and reduced overall water use by an additional 5% in 2024 compared with 2023.
- In 2024, 66% of GSK sites had biodiversity management plans, representing an increase of 45% from 2023. Action in 2024 included projects to remove non-native species and restore native fauna at a number of manufacturing sites.
Commenting on the report, GSK CEO Emma Walmsley said, “As a global biopharma leader, we want to play our full part in protecting and restoring the planet’s health, in order to protect and improve people’s health. Improving the environmental sustainability of our business makes us more resilient, so we can deliver the products that patients rely on.”
