Sustainable Healthcare and Pharma Decarbonisation Solutions

Key regulations include CSRD, which raises the bar on climate and value‑chain emissions disclosure for large companies operating in Europe. The EU F‑Gas Regulation directly affects products such as inhalers and anaesthetic gases, for example, with the phase‑out of desflurane due to its very high global warming potential. Healthcare organisations must also comply with the EU Waste Framework Directive’s waste hierarchy, pushing them towards prevention, re‑use and recycling for medicines, devices and packaging.

Most scope 1 emissions in healthcare and pharma come from stationary combustion of fossil fuels for heat, steam, and on‑site power generation in factories, laboratories, and hospitals. Manufacturing medicines is highly heat‑intensive, so gas and oil‑fired boilers, combined heat and power (CHP) plants, and similar assets dominate direct emissions profiles. Additional scope 1 contributions come from company vehicle fleets and fugitive emissions, including anaesthetic gases, nitrous oxide and refrigerant losses from HVAC and cold‑chain systems.

Companies can reduce their emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling by switching to renewable energy sources. This means actively procuring 100% renewable electricity for their operations, whether through onsite solar installations, PPAs, VPPAs, or energy attribute certificates (EACs).

Renewable energy is a core lever for cutting scope 2 emissions from electricity use in hospitals, manufacturing sites, and research facilities. Healthcare and pharma companies are increasingly shifting to renewable electricity through PPAs, on‑site solar, and participation in large‑scale renewable energy programmes.

Biomethane is a renewable gas that can directly replace fossil natural gas in existing boilers, combined heat and power (CHP) units, and process heat systems, making it a practical lever for decarbonising hospital and pharmaceutical manufacturing heat without major infrastructure changes. Because it is chemically very similar to natural gas, upgraded biomethane can be injected into the gas grid or delivered via certificates, allowing healthcare organisations and drug manufacturers to cut scope 1 emissions from steam generation, sterilisation, space heating and high‑temperature process heat while maintaining reliability and tight operational constraints.

For many healthcare and life sciences sites, full electrification of heat is technically challenging or expensive in the near term, especially where high, constant temperatures are required or where grid capacity is limited. In these “hard‑to‑abate” settings, biomethane offers a credible transition pathway that complements electrification and efficiency measures by using existing gas assets more sustainably and reducing lifecycle GHG emissions compared with fossil gas.

In Europe, policymakers see renewable gases such as biomethane as an important part of the net zero mix, with EU ambitions to scale domestic biomethane production significantly by 2030 to help decarbonise heating and industry. Healthcare organisations can access this growing market through certified biomethane solutions that ensure traceability and alignment with EU sustainability rules, enabling them to claim robust scope 1 reductions and demonstrate progress against climate and regulatory commitments.

Scope 3 emissions are all indirect GHG emissions that occur across an organisation’s value chain, outside its own operations and purchased energy. They include upstream emissions from purchased goods and services, capital goods, transport and distribution, business travel and waste, as well as downstream emissions from the use of sold products, end‑of‑life treatment and investments.

In healthcare and life sciences, the largest driver of scope 3 emissions is usually Purchased Goods and Services, which includes raw materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), packaging, contract manufacturing and logistics. The use of sold products, such as propellant‑based inhalers and energy‑intensive medical equipment, is another major contributor, accounting for over half of some companies’ total footprints.

Scope 3 value chain emissions typically account for the vast majority of healthcare and pharma carbon footprints, often in the range of 75–95% of total emissions depending on the sub‑sector. For large pharmaceutical manufacturers, scope 3 frequently exceeds 90% of their footprint, meaning most of the climate impact sits upstream and downstream in the supply chain, rather than within a company’s own facilities or purchased energy.

Lower‑carbon healthcare supply chains mean reduced air pollution, less exposure to hazardous waste and more resilient access to essential medicines in a changing climate. Because climate and environmental harms fall hardest on low‑income and marginalised communities, decarbonisation helps narrow health inequalities as well as emissions. By linking environmental performance with social outcomes, healthcare organisations can align their climate strategies with their core public health and equity mandates.

Medical device manufacturers are focusing on reducing the energy demand of equipment and enabling lower‑carbon use in hospitals and clinics. For high‑load devices such as MRI scanners, the electricity consumed in use can be a dominant emissions source, so companies are redesigning systems for higher efficiency and working with customers on renewable energy or greener power from sources such as wind and solar. Device makers are also exploring circularity and design for disassembly to cut lifecycle emissions from materials, packaging, and end‑of‑life.

Decarbonisation is being embedded into long‑term financial planning, capital allocation, and risk management. Many companies use internal carbon pricing, scenario analysis, and science‑based targets (SBT) to guide investment decisions in energy, manufacturing, research & development (R&D), and supply chain transformation. This approach positions climate action as a driver of cost savings, resilience, and brand value, not just compliance.

Leading healthcare providers, pharma companies and medical device manufacturers are tackling scope 3 emissions by embedding climate criteria into procurement, supplier engagement, and product design.

Common actions include mapping supply chain emissions hotspots, setting science‑based or SBTi‑aligned targets that explicitly cover scope 3, integrating emissions requirements into tenders, and supporting key suppliers to measure, report, and reduce their own footprints. In pharma specifically, collaborative programmes such as supplier decarbonisation consortia and renewable energy cohorts help value chain partners access renewable power, clean heat solutions and biomethane, reducing supplier scope 1 and 2 emissions and, in turn, the sponsor company’s scope 3 emissions.

Decarbonisation in European healthcare is driven by a mix of mandatory regulation and strong voluntary and market pressure. EU‑level measures such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the F‑Gas Regulation and the Waste Framework Directive create binding requirements on transparency, high‑GWP gases and waste management. At the same time, brand positioning, patient and customer expectations, and supplier requirements from large pharma groups are creating a “race of compliance” where companies move faster than minimum legal baselines.