23.4 SUSTAINABILITY/TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE REPORTING 23 • 19Exhibit 23.10. Verification Statements on P66 of Novo Nordisk’s Reporting on the
Triple Bottom Line, 2001.
This Statementfocuses on the completeness and relevance of
Novo Nordisk’s Triple Bottom Line report, and on the company’s
underlying learning and capacity to work with longer-term
‘stretch’ goals and targets. In the Internet report is a description
of the Review’s approach.
On substantive issues, significant advances have been made in
the area of ‘access to health.’ Its approach reflects the company’s
fundamental business principles, builds on WHO’s recommen-
dations, and was accentuated and accelerated by the Danish de-
bate following the legal case brought by the pharmaceutical in-
dustry against the South African government concerning
intellectual property rights. Learning from this should in the fu-
ture inform its overall approach to risk assessment and manage-
ment. The company has further progressed its approach to ani-
mal care, deepening its engagement to include challenging and
also productive dialogue with activists. Incremental progress has
been made in environmental management and performance,
and there is a renewed need to explore new opportunities and
strategic directions. Considerable progress has been made in
handling labour standards in supply chains, and the weight now
given to this in supplier screening is to be commended. Also no-
table are further developments in the company’s global ap-
proach to equal opportunities.
On accounting and reporting, the strategic dilemmas approach
has proved valuable in exploring the link between values, gov-
ernance, and strategy. The commitment to account for licensees,
contractors, and suppliers is a welcome development. The
greater focus on the crucial area of health-related impacts is a
significant development, although the company might reflect onhow best to satisfy growing demands from stakeholders for
greater transparency about health-related R&D activities.
The report complies with the main GRI Reporting Guidelines,
and the underlying accountability process has been consistent
with AA1000 principles.
Overall, Novo Nordisk continues to be a leader in public re-
porting, and can sustain this by considering future developments
in the following areas.- Further development of reported long-term strategic goals and
associated targets. - Continuing this year’s effective approach that reports per-
formance in the context of strategic dilemmas. - Annual reporting on progress in its ‘access to health’ initia-
tives. - Reporting on how R&D policy and practice fits within the
Novo Charter. - Report on internal incentive and career development in rela-
tion to social and environmental policies and performance. - Strengthening engagement with mainstream investment com-
munity about risks and opportunities associated with social
and environmental performance. - Extension of quality assurance process to all report-based
corporate communications about social and environmental
issues and performance.
London, 1 March 2002
Dr. Simon Zadek
Agreed upon procedures related to the ‘Report’ and supporting
documentation
We have been engaged to perform certain agreed upon proce-
dures on the Novo Nordisk Triple Bottom Line Report 2001 and
the related supplementary information on the Novo Nordisk web-
site (all referred to as the ‘Report’). Our work has been performed
according to Professional Guidance applied to State Authorised
Public Accountants in Denmark. The scope of the agreed upon
procedures was agreed with the management of Novo Nordisk.- We interviewed corporate officials at corporate headquarters
and employees at a sample of sites, responsible for compil-
ing data (environmental, social and economic data) for the
Report, and we analysed and tested samples of supporting
documentation. - We ascertained whether the data collection procedures, as
described in ‘Scope of Report,’ were used at corporate level
to collect figures from reporting units. We compared the fig-
ures in the Report on investments and costs pertaining to en-
vironmental work to the source documentation presented to
us. We assessed whether figures collected this way are ap-
propriately reflected in the Report. - We reviewed the internal control procedures established at
corporate level to verify relevant figures submitted from re-
porting units. On a test basis, we compared the 2001 figures
reported from a sample of two reporting units, Kalundborg
and Bagsværd, to the source documentation supporting the
submitted figures.
The agreed-upon scope and work performed preclude us from
stating an opinion as to whether all figures in the Report are
complete and accurate.
We find that Novo Nordisk applied detailed data collection pro-
cedures for the purpose of collecting 2000 and 2001 figures
from the reporting units for inclusion and appropriate reflection
in the Report, and made reasonable endeavours at corporate
level to verify the figures. For the two reporting units identified
above, submitted figures were consistent with the source docu-
mentation presented to us.
High-level assurance engagement on the environmental infor-
mation system (CATCH)
We have been engaged to perform a high-level assurance en-
gagement of CATCH. CATCH is a corporate level system as as-
serted in ‘Scope of Report’ and in detail in the Internet version of
the Report. The Report and the assertion are the responsibility of
and have been approved by Novo Nordisk’s management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on the assertion based on
our engagement. Our work has been performed according to
Professional Guidance applied to State Authorised Public Ac-
countants in Denmark.
Our engagement included, on a test basis, an examination of the
evidence supporting the assertion and performance of other
such procedures, as deemed necessary by us. We believe that
our examination provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, in all material respects, CATCH is functioning as
described in ‘Scope of report,’ and the system ensures an appro-
priate data collection process at corporate level.
Copenhagen, 1 March 2002
DELOITTE & TOUCHE
Statsautoriseret RevisionsaktieselskabPreben J. Sørensen
State Authorised Public Accountant (Denmark)
Environment & SustainabilityVerification Statements
As an innovation, this year we have adopted a triple approach to the quality assurance of our Report. A broader overview that seeks to
provide stakeholders with some assurance of the relevance and completeness of the Report and its underlying processes. A formal ex-
ternal verification that focuses on the accuracy of the quantitative data. And a high-level assurance engagement of our environmental
information system, CATCH. The scope of these independent statements also covers the additional information in the Internet report.Statement from Deloitte & ToucheStatement from Simon Zadek