What does GSK ask its suppliers to do on carbon?

GSK picks suppliers by impact assessment and asks them for four things: Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions allocated to GSK every year, a 1.5°C science-based target validated by SBTi, renewable electricity at every plant and office by 2030, and a plan to cut heat emissions where heat is a large share.

The five questions GSK puts to suppliers

GSK's supplier site lists the questions it asks targeted suppliers. Each one is easier to answer with a figure than with a yes:

1. Does your organisation currently track carbon emissions? Answer with the year, the sites covered and the totals, not just yes.
2. Will you be able to share GSK apportioned Scope 1, 2 and 3 emission data annually? This is your footprint split to the share of output GSK buys, every year.
3. Does your organisation have a science-based carbon reduction target? GSK asks for near-term and long-term targets on a 1.5°C pathway, validated by SBTi.
4. What percentage of renewable electricity are you targeting by 2030? GSK's ask is 100 percent, at all plants and offices.
5. Is heat decarbonisation in your reduction plans, and how will you drive it? This applies where steam or process heat is a significant part of your emissions.

What sits behind each ask

• Allocated emissions: GSK wants Scope 1, 2 and 3 apportioned to GSK, reported yearly, and a commitment to report at product or service level as soon as reasonably practicable. Start with Scope 1 and 2 allocated by output; say plainly which Scope 3 categories you have not yet calculated.
• Science-based target: validated by SBTi, near-term and long-term, aligned to 1.5°C. A target you set internally is a useful first step to report, but it is not what GSK asks for.
• Renewable electricity: 100 percent in all plants and offices by 2030. Ordinary grid power cannot be claimed as renewable without certificates or a green tariff, so the answer depends on what you can prove: rooftop solar generation, open access contracts, a green tariff or certificates.
• Heat: optimise heat efficiency first, then look at renewable heat, through electrification or other renewable fuels. For an Indian API plant this usually means the boiler: furnace oil, coal or briquettes.

Why GSK is pushing this hard

GSK's own targets need its suppliers. It aims for an 80 percent absolute cut in emissions across all scopes from a 2019 baseline by 2030, and net zero across its full value chain by 2045, with a 90 percent absolute cut. Purchased materials and services sit in its Scope 3, so every supplier that cuts its footprint helps GSK hit those numbers.

If you also supply naturally derived materials or packaging

GSK's nature asks run alongside the carbon ones. Secondary paper packaging had to come from FSC or PEFC chain of custody certified sources, or carry more than 50 percent recycled content, by the end of 2025. Core palm oil derivatives had to be RSPO certified by the end of 2025. Key suppliers in priority water basins complete a GSK water stewardship assessment and agree a water efficiency target.

An API plant answering questions 2, 4 and 5 (example figures)

• Boiler: 3,00,000 litres of furnace oil x 2.97 kg CO2 per litre = 8,91,000 kg, or 891 t (Scope 1)
• Grid power: 24,00,000 kWh x 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh (CEA, FY 2025-26) = 16,20,000 kg, or 1,620 t (Scope 2)
• Scope 1 and 2 together: 891 + 1,620 = 2,511 t
• GSK takes 18 percent of output by tonnes, so the GSK share is 2,511 x 0.18 = 452 t (question 2)
• Rooftop solar gives 3,00,000 kWh of 27,00,000 kWh used: 3 / 27 = 11 percent renewable today, against 100 percent asked by 2030 (question 4)
• Heat share: 891 / 2,511 = 35 percent of Scope 1 and 2, so the boiler belongs in the heat plan (question 5)

Allocate by a physical measure such as tonnes of product where you can. State Scope 3 separately, and say which categories are still missing.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads your fuel invoices and electricity bills into Scope 1 and 2 records by site and month, with the factor behind each line, so the GSK share, the renewable percentage and the heat share come from documents you can show. GSK and SBTi decide whether your answers and targets meet their bar.

• Scope 3 supplier evidence for your customers
• PSCI questionnaire: emissions data to give
• Energize programme for pharma suppliers
• Allocate your emissions to one customer

Sources: GSK Supplier, Sustainability and supplier collaboration: required actions on climate and nature, key questions asked to suppliers, GSK's 2030 and 2045 targets, CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0: 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh for FY 2025-26, GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (Scope 1 and 2 boundaries)

Last reviewed 2026-11-03. GSK updates its supplier asks; re-check the supplier sustainability page every six months.