This report is an account of how the Triple Bottom Line approach is implemented in Novo Nordisk. It explains how we put our values into action. It deals with some of the dilemmas we face in the global community. And it presents our views on how we will develop our business to be well prepared for future challenges.

For a business to be successful, delivering healthy returns is fundamental. However, the vision of a more sustainable development implies a broader view. For more than a decade, Novo Nordisk has been pursuing this vision – framed as the Triple Bottom Line approach to doing business. It helps define how our company interacts with its key stakeholders – shareholders, people with diabetes and others whose healthcare needs we serve, healthcare professionals, employees, suppliers, local communities, NGOs, governments and public authorities and others affected by, or affecting, our company.

The elements in Triple Bottom Line reporting
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Performance highlights
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We have identified three strategic themes our company needs to address:

• Globalisation, sustainable development and corporate governance.
• Industry’s changing role and widening responsibilities.
• Stakeholders’ demands for transparency, dialogue and accountability.

Events on the international scene during 2002 have accentuated attention to these issues, with increased pressure on pharmaceutical businesses, a highly competitive market and uneasy financial markets responding to the prospects of recession and international conflicts.

We have taken an active part in debates on these issues. Novo Nordisk attended major events such as the World Economic Forum in New York and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. We have participated in debates, conferences and meetings in many different forums to learn from others and present our views.

Within Novo Nordisk’s business area, the pandemic growth in the number of people with diabetes, notably in the developing world, poses a huge challenge, and one which calls for concerted action. Engaging in partnerships, a core element in Novo Nordisk’s overall business approach, will be one way to be able to respond.

Corporate accountability relies on the ability to document and demonstrate in deeds how intentions are put into practice. It also draws on mutual trust and transparency. We acknowledge that a willingness to deal with dilemmas helps build trust. This is where the Novo Nordisk Values, the backbone of our core management system, serve as guiding principles. In a complex business environment, we often find ourselves facing dilemmas, where the right choice is not always the obvious one. There may well be other views of
equal value. Informed decision-making requires that different, and often opposing, views are reconciled.

In this report, we have invited representatives of views we have met in our dealings during the year to present how they see the key issues developing. We have asked them to comment on the dilemmas our company needs to deal with, now and in future:

• How can we ensure diligent observance of risk management, and yet nurture a spirit of innovation that encourages pursuit of promising opportunities?
• How can we improve access to diabetes care by making our products more affordable in developing countries, and yet sustain a profitable business?
• How can we respect others’ cultural beliefs and positions on a sensitive issue such as stem cell research, and yet maintain a competitive edge in the quest to defeat diabetes?
• How can we justify to shareholders that investing in nonmaterial assets, such as environmental management, is good business, and yet not see it reflected in share prices?

In this report we aim to cover those environmental, social and economic issues that are perceived to affect our future business performance. Hence, we strive to provide our stakeholders with information which we deem material to their assessment of our  company. As in 2001, the internet version of the report is structured according to the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and compares our performance against these parameters.

• Living the Triple Bottom Line in China Novo Nordisk’s investments in education and awareness of diabetes in China exemplify how social responsibility is embedded in the company’s business approach. The case from China may well
  serve as a model for other developing countries.
• Access to health In 2002, the LEAD initiative – Leadership in
  Education and Access to Diabetes care – began to lay the groundwork for funding projects in developing countries. We now build on our model for sustainable diabetes care in developing countries to help establish national healthcare capacity through our National Diabetes Programme (NDP). In 34 countries, plans were made for such programmes.
• DAWN findings The findings of the DAWN study (Diabetes
  Attitudes, Wishes and Needs) were shared with healthcare professionals and policymakers at the first Oxford International Diabetes Summit in April 2002.
• New diabetes data The World Health Organization has published updated figures for diabetes across the world. Novo Nordisk was instrumental in this process of defining data and participated in the work group.
• Embedding social responsibility In 2002, we have put particular attention on the integration of social responsibility and human rights issues in the core business processes. Towards our employees, five focus areas frame the People Strategy, and all targets for 2002 were accomplished. A series of toolkits were developed to support these. One focus area is promoting equal opportunities. All business areas
  have formulated their individual action plans to help remove barriers to equal opportunities and create an open organisational culture.
• Social responsibility in the supply chain In 2002, 90% of our key suppliers have been evaluated on their environmental and social responsibility, based on a self-assessment questionnaire and dialogue with our purchasers.
• Animal welfare In 2002 we introduced a policy of internal ethical review of all animal experiments. Also, progress has been made on housing standards, with new prototypes for rabbits in place and other improvements, achieved in a partnership
  with the Danish Animal Welfare Society.
• Environmental management With increases in eco-productivity of 16 percentage points for water and 15 percentage points for energy, the medium-range targets for ‘producing more with less’ are likely to be achieved, if not exceeded. The implementation of our new Environmental Management System, with the first seven ISO14001 certifications obtained, is instrumental in that it brings about increased awareness and participation among employees. As part of this, targetsetting
  has shifted to a bottom-up process, involving nearly 4,000 employees in a training programme.
• Compliance Significant improvements were achieved in 2002, particularly with respect to breaches of regulatory limits and complaints. There were no significant adverse events.
• Economic impact analyses Building on the assessment of our company’s ‘economic footprint’, developed in 2001, we use the Global Reporting Initiative as a framework for analysing the cash value distribution to economic stakeholders. A case study from Denmark assesses the benefits of diabetes care, calculated as gained patient lives, improved quality of life and in monetary terms as productivity gains.
• Awards and recognitions During the year, Novo Nordisk has received a number of awards and recognitions for our reporting and for our work to drive the Triple Bottom Line approach in business. A list is available in the 'Honours' section.