Climate Change

Johnson & Johnson is committed to helping mitigate our impact on climate change and climate change’s impact on our business and society. To do our part to help maintain a healthy climate, we take a holistic approach that includes improving the footprint of our operation and value chain, supporting policies that aim to achieve a low-carbon economy, and working with others to drive impact at scale. We have made significant progress against our Health for Humanity 2025 Goals that focus on carbon neutrality and renewable electricity. We will also continue to engage our upstream suppliers in emissions reductions associated with our procurement practices and recognize we must continue at a pace to meet our commitments.

Our operational (Scope 1 + Scope 2) 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, and our operational carbon neutrality goal goes beyond what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Our value chain (Scope 3) emissions goal has been validated by SBTi as being consistent with a 2°C reduction scenario, and we will be reevaluating this goal based on the guidance from SBTi issued in 2021.

Through our due diligence and continuous improvement process, we are evaluating potential additional sources of greenhouse gas emissions within our manufacturing processes. We will report additional greenhouse gas emissions, if material, in future disclosures.

^{* See the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions table in the ESG Performance Data section of this Report for footnote considerations related to Scope 1 + Scope 2 emissions data.}

^{* Waste generated in operations of 8,759 MT CO₂e was excluded from the donut chart because of scale. See the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions table in the ESG Performance Data section of this Report for additional footnote considerations related to Scope 3 GHG emissions data.}

To achieve carbon neutrality, we will make further investments in energy efficiency, alternative fuel sources and environmentally-preferred fleet vehicle choices while expanding our use of renewable energy. To reduce upstream emissions, we will partner with our key suppliers to encourage them to reduce their emissions. We will balance any remaining carbon emissions by supporting solutions that accelerate nature’s ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Generating and procuring renewable electricity has been a critical element of our energy program for two decades. Johnson & Johnson maintains more than 50 on-site renewable energy systems in 17 countries and has executed multiple deals for off-site renewable electricity procurement. In 2021, Johnson & Johnson signed four new renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)—one in North America and three in Europe—as well as two Utility Green Tariff contracts in the United States. These agreements, and our prior renewable electricity efforts, are expected to provide the equivalent of 100% renewable electricity for our operations in the United States, Canada and Europe by 2023.

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With our new renewable agreements, Johnson & Johnson Vision will be powered entirely with 100% renewable electricity. That means all ACUVUE brand contact lenses will be made using 100% renewable electricity, since Johnson & Johnson Vision’s production site in Limerick, Ireland, is already powered by 100% wind.

We continued to expand the installation of on-site solar arrays at our facilities, with new installations in 2021 in China, Colombia, South Africa and Thailand. New this year was the introduction of on-site PPA structure in the form of multiyear "energy as a service" contracts at two sites, enabling GHG-reduction benefits without the need for capital investment. At one of the largest manufacturing sites in South Africa, the Cape Town installation represented the first renewable electricity initiative for Johnson & Johnson in South Africa.

Our teams are finding creative ways to supply renewable energy, both on-site and off-site, to bring us closer to our climate goals. On the demand side, our designers and engineers are using innovative technologies and techniques to decrease the amount of power needed to run global operations, even as Johnson & Johnson continues to grow.

Paul Gioioso

Vice President, Engineering & Property Services, Johnson & Johnson

^{Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, Bangkok, Thailand.}

As part of our ongoing efforts to leverage data science across our operations, in 2021, we automated a manual freight load planning process to produce a 3D loading plan that optimizes space utilization of shipping containers, resulting in lower GHG emissions from shipping, a faster loading process and cost savings. In Europe, we identified opportunities to switch deliveries from our Belgium distribution center to Denmark, France and Spain from air to road—significantly reducing the carbon emissions with minimal impact to customer service.

Chlorofluorocarbons have been eliminated from use in our facilities for several years. We plan to eliminate the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by the end of 2025, or earlier where required by government regulations, and in 2021, all Johnson & Johnson manufacturing sites were required to prepare an HCFC phase-out plan.

^{* See the Energy Use table in the ESG Performance Data section of this Report for footnote considerations related to Energy Use data.}

At Johnson & Johnson, we are continuously evaluating climate-related risks and opportunities to strengthen our business and to ensure that we can continue to meet our patient and customer needs. In 2021, we undertook a focused assessment of the potential physical climate-related risks on our own properties and certain supplier locations. We identified several opportunities to improve business resilience such as access to reliable energy and water supply in the event of a disruption that we will build into our long-range capital planning process. Several projects are planned and budgeted, including a potable water tank, storm water pumps and additional emergency generation.

To learn more about our partnerships at the intersection of climate change and health equity, see Our Race to Health Equity.