Citizenship for the long term

Sustainability means balancing economic, environmental and social goals

May 22, 2009

While global markets fluctuate, one thing remains unchanged: Our world’s growing long-term need for energy. Despite the current downturn, global energy demand in 2030 is likely to be about 30 percent higher than it is today.

Short-term market turbulence must not prevent us from investing in long-term solutions — in the United States and around the world — to meet this energy challenge.

Because energy is at the intersection of many complex and diverse issues facing society today — from social development to environmental protection — the solutions must be equally diverse. For energy companies, this means not only investing in greater energy supplies, but also in programs and practices that make us good corporate citizens as well as major contributors to the global economy.

As ExxonMobil’s new Corporate Citizenship Report explains, a key goal of our citizenship strategy is addressing the challenge of sustainability — balancing economic growth, social development and environmental performance while continuing to deliver superior shareholder returns so that future generations are not compromised by actions taken today.

The report describes how ExxonMobil addresses sustainability through six focus areas: corporate governance; safety and health; environmental performance; managing climate-change risks; economic development; and human rights and security. Highlights include:

• We are investing $125 billion over the next five years to deliver new energy supplies and develop energy-efficient technologies — both essential to economic growth. And to ensure these investments create lasting economic benefits for the countries in which we operate, we support initiatives to hire and develop local employees and suppliers.

• We have invested $1.5 billion since 2004 in activities to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are on track to improve energy efficiency in our worldwide refining and chemical operations by 10 percent from 2002 to 2012. We also are developing new vehicle technologies that can help consumers use energy more efficiently.

• We support social, health and educational initiatives around the world. As examples, ExxonMobil is a major corporate contributor to the fight against malaria worldwide, while in the  U.S. we are a leading supporter of math and science education, including efforts to increase the number of women and minorities studying in these fields.

• ExxonMobil is also leading the way in increasing safety and reducing marine spills in the oil and natural gas industry. We have achieved a 12-percent average annual reduction in lost-time incidents since 2000. And in 2008, we had zero spills from ExxonMobil-operated vessels or those on long-term lease.

Turbulent economic times call for a long-term perspective. By maintaining a focus on citizenship and balancing economic, social and environmental goals, we can develop sound solutions to meet the energy challenge in all of its dimensions.