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DuPont Releases Sustainability Report, Cites Progress Toward 2020 Goals and Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Sep 14, 2017 12:15 PM ET

DuPont has released its 2017 Sustainability Report, highlighting progress toward its 2020 Sustainability Goals and ongoing engagement in areas reflected in the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as food security, environmental stewardship, and diversity and inclusion.

“The SDGs provide the framework for the future we want as well as present a tremendous opportunity,” said Krysta Harden, DuPont vice president of Public Policy and chief sustainability officer. “Some estimates place the market opportunity in meeting the SDGs by 2030 at $2.3 trillion for food and agriculture, $4.3 trillion for energy and materials and $1.8 trillion for health and well-being. That’s why companies like DuPont are so vital – our science and innovation engines, as well as deep market knowledge and global scale, can help generate the real-world solutions that will ultimately power attainment of the SDGs.”

DuPont 2020 Sustainability Goals and Environmental Stewardship

The DuPont 2020 Sustainability Goals – comprised of Innovation, Food Security and Environmental Footprint – represent the next step in the company’s more than 25-year commitment to sustainability. In 2015, the company surpassed an interim 3 percent target reduction in its goal to improve its energy intensity 10 percent by 2020 compared to a baseline of 2010. This progress extended to 2016 with the company achieving a 10.8 percent reduction in energy intensity.

In addition, DuPont reported the first year of results toward its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity 7 percent by 2020. In 2016, the company achieved a 1.3 percent reduction in “goal-basis” emissions intensity compared to a 2015 baseline and an 8.7 percent decrease in absolute greenhouse gas emissions since 2010. Finally, DuPont continued a long history of positive engagement on climate change issues in 2016 by lending its support to several forums reaffirming corporate support for the Paris agreement on climate change.

Advancing Food Security

In 2012, DuPont set an ambitious set of Food Security Goals that are now part of the overall DuPont 2020 Sustainability Goals. These goals were conceived in the spirit of “what gets measured gets done,” focus on innovating to feed the world, engaging and educating youth, and improving rural communities. In 2016, DuPont made important progress in each area:

  1. Innovating to Feed the World. DuPont is committed to investing $10 billion in research and development and introducing 4,000 new products by the end of 2020. In 2016, we invested $1.040 billion in R&D, bringing our total to approximately $6 billion. We also introduced more than 500 new products.
  2. Engaging and Educating Youth. By the end of 2020, DuPont will facilitate 2 million engagements with young people around the world to transfer the knowledge of sustainable food and agriculture and the impact it will have on a growing population. In 2014, we exceeded our target but remained committed to continuing progress and in 2016 we engaged more than 300,000 additional youth.
  3. Improving Rural Communities. DuPont will work to improve the livelihoods of at least 3 million farmers and their rural communities through targeted collaborations and investments that strengthen agricultural systems and make food more accessible, nutritious and culturally available. This is in addition to the work already being done by DuPont to enhance the lives of hundreds of millions of farmers through our normal business practices. Through 2016, we helped improve the livelihoods of approximately 1.7 million farmers and their rural communities.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Building our diverse workforce and treating all employees, customers, business partners and communities with respect has been a DuPont core value since our company’s founding over 215 years ago. In 2016, DuPont continued to make strides in its diversity and inclusion strategy and was recognized for its commitment by several organizations.

DiversityInc named DuPont one of the year’s Noteworthy Companies for Diversity and the National Association of Female Executives listed the company among its Top Companies for Executive Women for the ninth consecutive year. In addition, for the 10th time DuPont was recognized by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) as a best place to work for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality and was one of the companies that scored 100 percent on the 2017 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to LGBTs.

Working Mother magazine, one of the leading U.S. magazines dedicated to women in business, also named DuPont one of the 2016 Working Mother 100 Best Companies for its commitment to progressive workplace programs, including advancement of women, flexibility, child care and paid parental leave. It was the 27th year DuPont has received this honor. Finally, DuPont met the requirements for recognition by the Disability Equality Index in 2016 and 2017, earning a top score of “100” in both years.

To learn more about DuPont and sustainability, please visit our site at:  www.sustainability.dupont.com.

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