Foreword by our President and CEO
Sustainability is one of the three pillars of ST’s value proposition. It is fully embedded in the company DNA and the daily operations of ST’s 46,000 employees. We approach sustainability by addressing the opportunities and challenges associated with the long-term trends reshaping our societies: our technologies are enablers of safer, greener mobility, advanced power & energy management across all types of systems and devices, and at the heart of the IoT & 5G. Addressing these opportunities and challenges paves the way to long-term sustainable growth for ST as a global company, for our stakeholders, and more broadly for society.
Providing innovative and sustainable solutions to our customers is a global effort carried out across the entire company. It implies being an independent device manufacturer mastering the entire value chain, from selecting and purchasing raw materials, investing in technology and product R&D, to designing products and ensuring their reliability and high quality. In 2019 we made significant progress in strategic programs focusing on new semiconductor solutions based on Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride, and moved forward with the construction of the 300mm fab in Agrate (Italy), dedicated to manufacturing power management devices. We also continued to invest in R&D and collaborated with over 130 R&D partners worldwide to keep on building technological ecosystems around ST solutions. We are also improving our social and environmental footprint at every stage of the product lifecycle, with 62% of new manufactured products identified as Sustainable Technology.
We devote significant effort to enhancing our manufacturing operations. Our yearly investments ensure our technology is state of the art, improve equipment productivity and allow us to reduce the impact of our production on the environment. We continue to implement technical solutions to reduce emissions, reuse water, recycle waste and progressively switch to renewable energy sources. We had set ourselves challenging targets for the reduction of Perfluorinated Compounds and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. I am pleased to report that GHG direct emissions have been reduced in absolute by 14% compared to 2018, making us 6 years ahead of our 2025 objective. Our longstanding efforts were recognized again in 2019, with ST’s presence in the DJSI World and Europe indexes as well as in other key ESG rankings.
People are ST’s foundation. I am very proud of the commitment and resilience our employees have demonstrated over the past months as we navigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. ST is a company built around its employees, whose diversity, combined expertise and longterm commitment are key to create a successful, responsible company on a worldwide scale. We have demonstrated it again with numerous initiatives across the company and with other stakeholders in our communities, with donations of medical supplies and contributions to technology projects to fight the pandemic. Beyond this challenge of early 2020, our latest survey shows that 77% of our employees recommend ST as a great place to work. We are also recognized as a leader in our industry on labor and human rights. We now aim to increase diversity in leadership positions and continue to hire young talents in science and engineering to build a sustainable future.
We have our work cut out for us. Sustainability matters. It is a duty we have towards all our stakeholders and an integral part of our continued business success. I am committed to taking the necessary actions to continue to move forward and achieve ST’s strong ambitions in this domain.
Jean-Marc Chery
President and CEO
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