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Dow's Commitment to the Triple Bottom Line
The Convergence of Mission and Sustainability
Dow’s Mission is to “constantly improve what is essential to human progress by mastering science and technology.” It’s an ambitious promise, one that is boldly expressed under our corporate theme line as “Living. Improved daily.” – a clear declaration of both our past achievements and our aspirations for the future.
However, it is sometimes difficult to see how a chemical company contributes to the quality of life around the world. Our products are not generally used by consumers; although they are great enablers for our customers and their customers as well. The Top Industries for Dow Products link in the table below shows where our products end up in everyday life. We participate in many markets that are critical to long-term sustainability.
Further detail on some of the applications is provided below:
- STYROFOAM* brand insulation is producing more energy efficient homes around the world. In North America alone, over two million homes are insulated with STYROFOAM insulation, resulting in $200 million per year in energy savings and a significant reduction in fossil fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.
- Dow's innovative and life-saving pharmaceutical products for cancer, allergy treatment, glaucoma, kidney failure, and heart disease are only a few drugs the Company manufactures.
- Dow AgroSciences provides farmers globally with crop protection products. New innovations using biotechnology are reducing environmental risks associated with crop protection products and improving the agricultural industry’s ability to feed the world.
- Dow’s ion exchange resins are used to purify water around the world for drinking water, power plants, wastewater treatment, and pharmaceuticals.
- Dow epoxy technology makes it possible to create lighter, larger, and more durable windmill blades offering higher energy yields, increasing the use of renewable energy. This same technology is used in making composite structures for bus panels – significantly decreasing fuel consumption for this type of public transportation, and saving valuable nonrenewable resources in the process.
- Innovative Dow thermoplastic resins eliminate the need for paint in consumer products such as televisions, reducing volatile organic compound emissions and improving the recyclability of television cabinets.
- Saran* resins provide food protection, extending the food available to the world. In developing countries where refrigeration is scarce and expensive, meat products are formed into sausages covered with Saran film that can be shipped and stored without refrigeration for up to six months.
Our Corporate Mission explains why Dow has wholeheartedly embraced the principles of sustainability, both to set direction for our global enterprise and to assess the real and potential impacts of our work.
We understand that improving life is not possible without a clear understanding of, and sensitivity to, the effects of our business operations on the world around us. The days when for-profit corporations seemed to exist exclusively to maximize shareholder value are behind us. Today, our Mission compels us to consider and address the interests of customers, neighbors, employees, governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), as well as shareholders in everything we do.
The Ultimate Balance Sheet
The manifold interests of all Dow stakeholders converge under the Triple Bottom Line of Sustainable Development. The Triple Bottom Line is the ultimate balance sheet, calling attention to the three fundamental areas – economics, environment, and society – where companies impact the quality of life. The Triple Bottom Line provides a clear means to assess Dow progress against our goals for improvement. And, it provides a framework that directs all Dow activities to ensure that we continue on the course prescribed by our Mission statement.
Transparency and Accountability
This Public Report is an accounting of the progress Dow has made in 2003 against the Triple Bottom Line. We continue to be guided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), achieving "in accordance with" status with the latest guidelines for the first time, and in compiling this report, we have also been guided by two overarching imperatives – transparency and accountability – to ensure that we honor both the spirit and the substance of those guidelines.
In the pages of the 2003 Public Report, you will find updates on our progress toward our 2005 goals. Each year, Dow strives for the most exhaustive and accurate accounting of our progress so that you and other stakeholders can assess how we are doing, and also so that we can assess how true we have been to our Mission statement.
Seeing Is Believing
As you would expect from a science and technology company, the 2003 Dow Public Report quantifies our progress in great detail through the use of data and supporting descriptions. But statistics alone can’t fully convey how Dow is making life better. We recognize that for many, "seeing is believing."
To better communicate the extent to which we are striving to deliver against the promise of our Mission and the Triple Bottom Line, the 2003 Dow Public Report contains a wide range of case study examples – allowing readers to see for themselves how Dow science, technology, products, people, sponsorships, and alliances are making a positive difference in real life around the world.
Since beginning our sustainability reporting in 1999, we have made significant progress against the Triple Bottom Line. In 2003, the Dow Public Report continues this trend. Here are some of the year’s highlights:
Economic Prosperity
- Despite continued difficult economic conditions, Dow increased earnings, improved cash flow, and reduced net debt.
- Dow declared a cash dividend to its shareholders in each quarter of 2003. Through the end of the year, Dow had paid dividends in 369 consecutive quarters.
Environmental Stewardship
- Dow achieved its lowest illness and injury rate in its history in 2003 – continuing the steady progress since the inception of the EH&S 2005 Goals. The current rate is 0.58 per 200,000 work hours, a 19 percent improvement over last year and a 77 percent improvement since 1994.
- Dow’s internal WRAP (Waste Reduction Always Pays) Award program was expanded in 2003 to include reprocessing of waste into raw materials, enabling Dow to capture value while reducing waste. The estimated value of all WRAP projects since 1986 totals roughly $1 billion.
- The American Chemistry Council awarded Dow the Responsible Care® Sustained Excellence Award for the second year in a row. The award recognizes companies that have demonstrated excellent safety records over the past three years.
Corporate Social Responsibility
- Dow adopted a revised Code of Business Conduct in July. The Code is available to employees in 14 different languages. A mandatory global, online training program was initiated in the fourth quarter of 2003.
External Assurance
- Dow received a 2003 BEST Award from the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). The ASTD BEST Awards recognize organizations demonstrating enterprise-wide success as a result of employee learning and development.
- Dow received the 2003 Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award from the Product Development & Management Association, the first time a chemical company has received the honor in the award’s 27-year history.
Multiple Formats Enhance Reporting Transparency
The 2003 Dow Public Report is published – online and in downloadable pdf format – as a companion to the 2003 Dow Annual Report, which provides in-depth financial results for our Company. This enables Dow to report its progress against the Triple Bottom Line in a highly accessible and transparent fashion to meet the needs of the majority of our stakeholders. However, for stakeholders who wish to review our information in a single, combined document conforming to the text-based Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) format, accessible online, we are issuing a second report in the GRI format.
This downloadable document combines information provided by the 2003 Dow Public Report with detailed supplemental data drawn from Dow financial reports and other documents as prescribed by the GRI. We expect this GRI format report will be most useful to independent sustainability assessment bodies. You may download a copy of this alternative report, titled The 2003 Dow Chemical Company Global Reporting Initiative Report.
Debates and Dilemmas
Despite making what we believe is good progress on the multiple dimensions of Sustainable Development, we still have a number of challenges and dilemmas – almost all of these are "legacy" issues. We cover those that are of most interest to the widest set of stakeholders in this report. We also understand that our position on some of these issues is in conflict with a number of stakeholders. We continue to look for ways to resolve these dilemmas, understanding that in some cases we may have to “agree to disagree” on some aspects. We are constantly looking for constructive ways to put these aspects behind us and recognize that, in some circles, our legacy issues continue to define who we are and what we do.
We Take Sustainability Personally
The progress reported in the 2003 Dow Public Report represents the combined efforts of Dow’s approximately 46,000 employees globally. As members of the communities where we operate, Dow people have a very personal stake in our efforts to improve life. They understand that aggressive pursuit of Dow’s Corporate Mission will provide benefits that are both far-reaching as well as important to us all close to home.
Responsible Care® is a registered service mark of the American Chemistry Council
*Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company
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