Novo Nordisk Annual Report 2021

Contents Introducing Novo Nordisk Strategic Aspirations Key risks Management Consolidated statements Additional information. Novo Nordisk Annual Report 2021 22 of financial reporting processes are audited by an independent audit firm elected at the Annual General Meeting. As part of our ESG responsibility, we voluntarily include an Assurance Report from an independent external auditor for ESG reporting in the Annual Report. The assurance provider reviews whether the ESG performance information covers aspects that are deemed to be material and verifies the internal control processes for the information reported. Our internal audit function provides independent and objective assurance, primarily within internal control of financial processes, IT security and business ethics. To ensure that the internal financial audit function operates independently of Executive Management, its charter, audit plan and budget are approved by the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee must approve the appointment, remuneration and dismissal of the head of the internal audit function. As part of our ESG responsibility, the Audit Committee also oversees our ESG reporting. We thereby ensure that our ESG reporting is subject to the same robust governance that applies to our financial reporting. Sustainability Standards Sustainability standards and performance We report on our ESG performance in accordance with relevant disclosure standards, including those of the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF)/ Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). We strive to adhere to the disclosure requirements of the VRF/ SASB, as they apply to the pharmaceuticals industry. We do this to demonstrate our commitment to being transparent and accountable for how we operate. Having further assessed our adherence and disclosure in 2021, we are now fully or partially aligned with 23 of 25 metrics. Our VRF/ SASB adherence document is available on our ESG Portal at novonordisk.com. Using the TCFD framework, we continue to take a stepwise approach to incorporating material climate-related risk- assessments into our governance, strategy and execution on climate and environmentally related initiatives. This includes the consideration of operational risks related to the environment, such as current and emerging environmental and climate- related litigation, access to resources, such as water and raw materials, and exposure to acute physical risks that could disrupt production. As recommended by the TCFD, we work to identify, assess and mitigate short-, medium- and long-term climate-related risks within our operations and supply chain. In addition to the TCFD, we have been working with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTI) for a number of years, where our CO2 emissions reduction targets for 2030 are validated. We believe external validation and transparency are paramount measures to ensure rapid progress towards a decarbonised MSCI ESG RATINGS AAA CCC BBB BDB AAA AAA SUSTAINALYTICS a Morningstar company CDP DISCLOSURE INSIGHT ACTION access to medicine Index novo nordisk future. We therefore welcome that SBTI launched a new net-zero standard in October 2021 and we have committed to have our net-zero CO2 emissions in 2045 target validated by them in 2022. For the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we focus our efforts on Goal 3, 'health' and Goal 12, 'responsible consumption and production', as this is where we believe we can maximise our positive impact. We will publish further information on our adherence to selected standards on our ESG Portal on an ongoing basis. This applies to the VRF/ SASB, TCFD and WEF's Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics in particular. Please also refer to the consolidated ESG statement in this Annual Report and to novonordisk.com for more information on our sustainability governance. ESG "rankers and raters" We perform on par with peers according to selected raters but with room to improve, particularly with respect to S&P Global and Access to Medicine Index. High Medium MSCI's ESG Rating is designed to measure a company's resilience to long-term, industry-material ESG risks. Novo Nordisk continued to hold an AAA leadership ESG rating in line with the past five years. Sustainalytics' ESG Risk Ratings score the ESG performance of more than 12,000 companies, from "negligible" to "severe". Novo Nordisk received an ESG risk rating of 24.1 ("medium"). Novo Nordisk ranked among the top 10% in the Industry Group 'Pharmaceuticals', with a ranking of 94 out of 1028 based on those companies reviewed. CDP scores companies from "D-" to "A". In 2021, Novo Nordisk continued to hold an "A" leadership ranking in CDP Climate, and a "B" ranking in CDP Water. The ATMI evaluates 20 of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies in areas where they have the biggest potential and responsibility to make change, such as R&D. Novo Nordisk ranked 10th, with a score of 2.96 and strong performance in Governance of Access and Product Delivery.

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