Engineering Impact

Medtronic was founded with a Mission designed to serve patients, healthcare partners, our employees, and our communities. Today we're delivering innovative healthcare technology, products, and services that improve the lives of two people every second. But we must do more.

Our focus on better outcomes for the world remains constant in the face of evolving global challenges. With 90,000-plus people across 150 countries, we see extraordinary possibilities to further increase our positive impact on some of society’s biggest challenges.

With the release of our FY21 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report, Engineering impact, we share the progress we’ve made over the past year and our vision for the future. In the report, we provide transparency on our efforts to drive demonstrable change on critical global issues, including protecting our planet, accelerating access to healthcare technology, and advancing inclusion, diversity, and equity (ID&E).

Combating climate change

A healthier world starts by protecting the planet we all share. To address the climate crisis, Medtronic set a goal to become carbon neutral in our operations by 2030. Our plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity and energy use, while increasing our use of renewable energy. In 2021, we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions intensity 11% compared to the previous year. And 25% of our energy came from renewable and alternative sources, toward our interim FY25 goal of 50%.

We’re always looking for new ways to reduce and recycle the waste we create. With many of our devices implanted in the body, recycling isn’t easy; however refurbishing and reprocessing products can give them a second life. This year, our “takeback” program collected more than four million Medtronic products, diverting about 217 metric tons from landfills. We also set two new ESG product stewardship targets focused on reductions in packaging waste and paper use.

Accelerating access to healthcare technology

Innovation fuels everything we do. As we engineer breakthrough healthcare technologies, we also develop new ways for the world to access them. In 2021, we invested $2.5 billion in R&D to bring new solutions to market that solve unmet healthcare needs. We also contributed nearly $70 million in global healthcare capacity training, reaching almost one million medical professionals. And we set new ESG targets to push the boundaries of healthcare technology and serve 85 million patients annually by FY25.

Underserved communities routinely face barriers to quality healthcare. In 2021, Medtronic launched new health equity strategies to reduce inequities in the utilization of healthcare technology for Hispanic and Black communities, including partnerships with the American Diabetes Association and T1D Exchange to increase access to diabetes therapies. To address racial disparities and advance social justice in Black communities in the United States, the Medtronic Foundation committed $16 million in partnerships with five U.S. nonprofits in 2021 focused on health and STEM education.

To respond to the challenges of COVID-19, we continued to support our employees, patients, healthcare professionals, and global communities. In addition to helping meet the staggering demand for ventilators, remote patient monitoring technologies, and more, Medtronic and the Medtronic Foundation have contributed $52.9 million collectively for ongoing COVID-19 relief since the start of the pandemic, including $26.6 million in product donations. Through these efforts, Medtronic Foundation partners supported 34,000 global health workers and 289,000 patients.

Building an equitable world for all

Our unwavering commitment to ID&E means zero barriers to opportunity, where all employees belong, are respected, and feel valued for who they are and the life experiences they contribute. To create accountability at all levels, every employee must set ID&E goals that are assessed during annual performance reviews. And beginning in FY22, ID&E performance will be directly tied to the annual incentive plans for executive leadership.

This year, we focused on inclusive leadership training to recognize and mitigate unconscious bias, reaching 70% of U.S. people managers. We achieved 100% ethnically diverse pay equity in the United States and maintained 100% gender pay equity in many countries, including the United States, as well as 99% gender equity for employees globally.

From denouncing COVID-19-related xenophobia and racism to supporting the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling extending protections for sexual orientation and gender identity, we use our voice and partnerships with organizations such as OneTen, Multiple Pathways Initiative, Disability: IN, and Catalyst CEO Champions for Change to address systemic inequities. To drive economic opportunity, we expanded our Supplier Diversity Program globally and directed $2.4 billion to small and diverse suppliers — totaling 35% of our U.S. supplier spend.

Shaping tomorrow, together

We are dedicated to building a healthier, more equitable, sustainable world. Healthcare technology can be a powerful force in advancing these efforts. But we know we can’t do it alone. The COVID-19 pandemic, the fight for social justice and equity, and the climate crisis fuel our drive to help society become stronger and more resilient.

"We're resetting our expectations of what innovation and technology can achieve to improve human welfare. And even as we raise the standard of care and accelerate health equity by expanding access for millions of people around the world, our motivation to help even one person live a fuller, healthier live will never end." - Geoff Martha, Chairman and CEO, Medtronic