Sustainability

For us, scientific progress and responsible entrepreneurship go hand in hand, enabling us to create a sustainable future for everyone.

Belén Garijo

Sustainability is a vital element of our business and a responsibility we want to fulfill every day. Through our innovation power, we strive to create long-term value for society: By fostering human progress for more than one billion people, achieving climate neutrality by 2040 and reducing our resource consumption.

Belén Garijo

Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

   

Our Tools

We develop methods and tools to evaluate our products and initiatives with regard to sustainability aspects with a focus on how our technologies and applications impact society, the environment and our business. 

Through the Sustainable Business Value method, which we developed, we can calculate and evaluate the positive and negative impacts of our products, technologies and business activities on society. In doing so, we include the entire value chain. This knowledge and data help us drive sustainability across our business operations and position ourselves for future success.

Sustainable product development and research is the focus of our tools GreenSpeed, DOZN™ and Umbrella.

With GreenSpeed we evaluate the sustainability of our chemical products during manufacturing, facilitating efficient and eco-friendly production methods. It tracks crucial metrics such as water usage, solvent consumption, energy expenditure, and greenhouse gas emissions, with the greenhouse gas emissions estimate derived from process mass intensity (PMI), or the total resources utilized to produce one kilogram of the final product.

Our award-winning web-based tool DOZN™ enables us to evaluate how our products are performing in three categories, namely “improving resource use”, “more efficient use of energy”, and “minimizing human and environmental hazards”. DOZN™ is an industry-first quantitative green chemistry evaluation tool. Available in a customer-facing version since 2019.

In order to make the R&D contribution to sustainability more aligned and transparent, we implemented the Umbrella initiative. It enables the coordination and the enhancements of the sustainability scorecards that have been implemented in all business sectors.  These scorecards are tailored to the sectors and contain questions that address social and environmental criteria along the value chain.

The business sectors' sustainability scorecards were mapped against our global sustainability strategy goals, and common core criteria were defined. The results of these common core sustainability criteria are consolidated from the scorecards and visualized in one Corporate Dashboard.

More information about our tools

Rating and Indices

We are not the only ones evaluating our non-financial performance. It is also assessed externally by investors and customers who use this information.

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FTSE4Good-Index
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FTSE4Good-Index

Since 2008, our company has been included in FTSE4Good, a leading sustainability index assessing ESG practices. In 2025, we again reached a ESG score of 4.4/5. The percentile rank is 94 within Health Care.​

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STOXX® Global ESG Leaders Index
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STOXX® Global ESG Leaders Index

In 2024, our company's share was again included in STOXX Global ESG Leaders Index, a sustainability index based on key environmental, social and governance criteria.

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Ethibel Sustainability Index
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Ethibel Sustainability Index
Our company has been reconfirmed as a constituent of the Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe since May 2020, based on VigeoEiris.
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Access to Medicine Index
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Access to Medicine Index

In the 2024 Access to Medicine Index, our company ranked seventh place. We were recognized for our performance in R&D, where we ranked fourth. 

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CDP

CDP Climate: In 2024, we scored an A- (2023: A-).
CDP Water: In 2024, we received a B (2023: B).

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EcoVadis-Rating
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EcoVadis-Rating

Our company received platin status in 2025, stating we are among the top 1%. The improvement to 83/100 score in 2025 is mostly triggered by our Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement activities. EcoVadis annually examines ~130,000 suppliers from more than 180 countries.

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ESG company rating
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ESG company rating

In 2024, our company again achieved prime status by ISS ESG, the sustainable investment arm of ISS STOXX. Our rating score improved from B- to B, with many data points now aligning with the new CSRD provisions. 

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Sustainalytics
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Sustainalytics

In 2025, our company achieved an ESG risk rating of 15.1, with Sustainalytics assessing us as low risk. Our ESG Risk Exposure is classified as medium. Our performance has been recognized as top.

  • Umbrella Project

    Our Director of Sustainability, Till Langner, and Senior Sustainability Program Manager, Kristin Balk, talked about the Sustainability program “Umbrella Project” …

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  • Green Solvents

    Our US Technical Service Manager David Rennie talks about Green Solvents and how they can boost the sustainability of chip production…

    Find out more
  • Supplier Decarbonization

    Our Head of Sustainable Procurement, Verena Buback, talks about the Supplier Decarbonisation program

    Find out more

Sustainability News

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  1. Press Releases

    Launch of EdiMembre to Transform Alternative Protein Industry

    Together with mantro GmbH we have established EdiMembre, Inc., Massachusetts, U.S.A., a Deep Tech spin-out in the alternative protein industry.

    2025/08/18

  2. Press Releases

    2025 Future Insight Prize Awarded to Helmholtz Center’s Magdalena Götz for ...

    We awarded the 2025 Future Insight Prize - a 250.000 € research grant - to Prof. Magdalena Götz, Munich, Germany today.

    2025/07/08

  3. Press Releases

    Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Completes Acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics ...

    We have closed the acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc., for an enterprise value of $3.4 billion (approximately €3 billion).

    2025/07/01

  • BUILDING BELONGING

    Our first DE&I Report opens a window into our DE&I efforts: our commitment, aspirations, culture, and initiatives, as well as partnerships we nurture beyond our business.

    Learn more
  • Sustainable business

    In episode 17 of our podcast series Future Talk, our experts discuss the benefits of sustainable business practice. Listen in!
    Explore more

Get in touch!

Any remarks or additional questions? Contact us and send an email at corporate-sustainability@emdgroup.com