Driving Sustainability: Innovations, Partnerships, and a Greener Future


09/27/2024


As the world continues to advance at an increasingly rapid pace, we face both significant challenges and new opportunities for building a more sustainable future. Issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, social inequality, and public health demand bold, collaborative efforts across all sectors. We believe that partnerships are key to addressing these challenges. By working together with customers, regulators, policymakers, and communities, our products can contribute to critical initiatives that support global goals, including the shift to clean energy, advancements in electronics, transportation electrification, and the creation of a more sustainable and inclusive future.
 
This is why we are deepening our commitment to sustainability, making it a core aspect of everything we do—from how we run our operations to how we innovate our products and engage with stakeholders and employees. Our sustainability strategy is built around four main pillars: Environmental Leadership, Innovation & Sustainable Solutions, Community Impact, and Greatest Place to Work. These pillars are inspired by our values and vision and shape our daily decisions and actions. Recognizing that we cannot achieve our objectives alone, we are focused on strengthening partnerships to accelerate progress. Here are some key examples of the strides we have made, along with the collaborations that are helping us move forward:
 
In our Environmental Leadership pillar, we are dedicated to minimizing our environmental impact while increasing our positive contributions. We have set ambitious goals for 2030, including reducing our Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 60%. We're proud to share that our target has been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Additionally, our Scope 3 target to reduce emissions by 25% per ton of production by 2030 has also been endorsed by SBTi. We have already achieved a 52% reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2018, and we are unveiling our decarbonization roadmap for 2030 and beyond. Recognizing the need to address both climate and nature, we partnered with the Wildlife Habitat Council in 2023 to evaluate our impacts on nature and launched a major initiative focused on restoring natural habitats at our sites.
 
Through our Innovation & Sustainable Solutions pillar, we are developing products that help our customers achieve their sustainability goals. Currently, 48% of our revenue comes from products that contribute directly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). For instance, our Nafion™ membranes are essential in hydrogen production, fuel cells, and energy storage, all of which are key to the clean energy transition. In collaboration with the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, a public-private initiative that includes the U.S. Department of Defense, University of Delaware, Chemours, Plug, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we are working to enhance membrane performance, reduce clean hydrogen production costs, and increase energy efficiency. Additionally, our investment in the University of Delaware's Center for Clean Hydrogen will help develop hydrogen technologies at a commercial scale.
 
Within the Community Impact pillar, we strive to make a meaningful difference in the communities where we live and work. In 2023, we granted over $5.6 million to programs that improved access to STEM education, promoted safety, and fostered sustainable environments—bringing our total investment to more than $24 million since 2018. One notable project is our partnership with the Discovery World Museum in Parkersburg, West Virginia, which offers children hands-on STEM learning experiences. Our grant supports Science Saturdays, provides admission for underserved families, and enables our employees to volunteer, helping inspire the next generation of STEM leaders and fostering a future talent pipeline for the industry.
 
Finally, under the Greatest Place to Work pillar, we are committed to fostering a workplace culture that reflects our values and prioritizes employee safety and wellbeing. In 2023, 15 of our global regions, representing over 92% of our workforce, were certified as Great Places to Work®. We also launched our eighth Employee Resource Group (ERG), the Native American Employee Network, which joins our other ERGs in celebrating the strength of our diverse workforce.
 
We are proud of our achievements but recognize there is much more to be done. Guided by our core values, we continue to seek ways to enhance our performance, expand our impact, and strengthen our partnerships to create a better future for all.