• Report highlights Dow’s comprehensive advancements across, and within, important areas of environmental protection, social progress, and accountable governance
• Provides convenient access to data and disclosures aligned with key ESG reporting frameworks
• Received Limited Assurance for GRI and Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in accordance with GHG Protocol reporting

Dow today released its second annual comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report, further demonstrating its commitment to transparency in data disclosure and how the Company is working to deliver solutions to global challenges that create lasting value for all its stakeholders.

Dow’s “INtersections” report reflects the interdependency between the environment and society, innovation and science, collaboration and action, and builds on 18 consecutive years of voluntary sustainability reporting and three years of inclusion and diversity reporting.

“The challenges facing our local and global communities are increasingly complex and interconnected, and demand a collaborative and integrated approach,” said Jim Fitterling, chairman and CEO of Dow. “They also require game-changing ideas fueled by science. As a science and technology company, we eagerly take on the responsibility for finding answers to the most pressing challenges of our time. This is central to our purpose as a company. It is central to our growth strategy. And it is central to driving best-in-class performance and accountability.”

Key highlights from the report, which is based on full-year 2021 data, include:

Executing on a plan to decarbonize and grow.

• Announced plans to build the world’s first net-zero carbon emissions, integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives site in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.
• Outlined a detailed roadmap to reduce current CO2 emissions from operations in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, by more than 40% by 2030.
• Expanded access to renewable energy to more than 900 megawatts, maintaining Dow’s position as one of the top 20 global corporations using renewable, clean energy.

Accelerating sustainability investments to enable design for recyclability and more circular plastics.

• Scaling supply partnerships with companies such as Mura Technology and Fuenix to produce circular feedstocks from advanced recycling processes.
• Announced commitment to delivering circular polymers from advanced recycling by the end of 2022.
• Investing in collaborative actions to minimize and manage plastic waste through partnerships such as the Alliance to End Plastic Waste.

Taking deliberate actions to drive inclusion, diversity and equity.

• Introduced new global paid-time off policies that provide employees with equal opportunity for parental leave, to take care of their families, and to volunteer and engage in Employee Resource Group (ERG) activities.
• Exceeded annual representation improvement goals for U.S. Ethnic minorities (26%), women globally (28.9%), and women in people leadership globally (35.3%).
• Linked inclusion and diversity metrics to the annual performance award program for all people leaders and senior directors, where legally permissible.

Mobilizing alliances of diverse stakeholders to create meaningful social change.

• Increased the Company’s commitment to $13 million for Dow ACTs, a framework designed to address systemic racism and inequality.
• Joined OneTen, a coalition of businesses that have pledged to upskill, hire and advance 1 million Black individuals in the U.S. over the next decade.
• Invested $2 million in seed grants for projects in 12 countries, including infrastructure projects that help keep plastic waste out of the environment and back into the circular economy.

Improving governance, transparency and accountability.

• Raised the bar on ESG reporting and disclosures through improved carbon emissions reporting and improved climate risk disclosures and greenhouse gas intensity metrics.
• Continued diversifying the Dow board, electing three new members in 2021 and 2022.
• Working with the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council to help develop consistent international frameworks for ESG reporting and accounting standards.

See related article: HubSpot Releases 2022 Sustainability Report, Highlighting ESG Progress and Goals

The 2021 “INtersections” ESG Report includes disclosures prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards: Comprehensive option and the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. In addition to the GRI and GHG, the report reflects disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and World Economic Forum (WEF) Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics. Dow engaged Deloitte & Touche, LLP to perform a review engagement on management’s assertion related to disclosures prepared and presented in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards under its Comprehensive option as of, and for the year-ended December 31, 2021 and related to Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions prepared and presented in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standards under its Corporate Standards for the year-ended December 31, 2021.

To learn more about Dow’s industry-leading contributions toward a better, more sustainable and equitable future, please read its comprehensive 2021 ESG Report here.

Source: Dow Inc.