Sustainability

Balancing economic growth, social development, and environmental protection
Finding, developing, and delivering reliable and affordable supplies of energy to support economic progress have long been the foundation of ExxonMobil’s business.

A key goal of our corporate citizenship strategy is to address the challenge of sustainability — balancing economic growth, social development, and environmental protection, so that future generations are not compromised by actions taken today.

Meeting the world’s growing demand for energy will not be achieved without environmental impact. Reducing this impact, while not diminishing society’s access to energy, is a critical step toward a sustainable energy system for the future. We address this challenge through a focus on improving the efficiency and environmental performance of our current operations and products while developing technologies that can substantially reduce the environmental footprint of energy use for the long term.

As a driver of economic growth and individual prosperity, the energy business is essential to modern society and development. We impact societies through the jobs we create; the revenues we generate for governments; the impact of our social investments in areas such as local capacity building, education, and health; and the way we engage and work with external parties. We are mindful of the scale and perceived influence of our business, and believe that by operating in a responsible manner we significantly contribute to economic and social development.

By embedding corporate citizenship into our business processes, we link our nonfinancial performance with our business strategy. This enables us to focus our efforts on long-term value drivers that contribute to the success of our company and progress for society at large.

We address the challenge of sustainability through six citizenship focus areas:

Corporate Governance
ExxonMobil manages safe, reliable, and ethical operations worldwide as well as corporate citizenship issues through our globally deployed management systems. We expect our employees to integrate corporate citizenship into their work-related activities and decision-making processes. Our management and controls systems are designed to support that goal.

Safety and Health
ExxonMobil protects the safety of our employees, contractors, customers, and the public by implementing policies to manage personnel and process safety. Our commitment to safe, secure, and incident-free operations contributes to improved operations reliability, lower costs, and higher productivity.

Environmental Performance
ExxonMobil is committed to conducting business throughout the world in a manner that protects the environment. We integrate environmental improvement into our business plans and strategies, and address key environmental issues that are specific to the processes and activities of each business.

Managing Climate Change Risks
Our strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operations and consumer use of products includes improving our own energy efficiency, advancing proven emissions-reducing technology, and developing breakthrough technologies for the long term.

Economic Development
ExxonMobil seeks to create long-term economic and social benefits from our projects and presence. We employ a variety of economic support and incentive programs, including workforce development, supplier development, and strategic community investments — collectively referred to as national content development. Our contributions to economic development allow us to reduce barriers to development in the communities where we operate and are consistent with the objectives of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Human Rights and Security
We actively promote respect for human rights, which is essential for helping to create a stable business environment. We believe our business presence can, and should, have a positive influence on the treatment of people in the communities in which we operate.

A balanced strategy
Being a successful business over the long term requires a thoughtful, proactive approach to each of these focus areas. By balancing economic growth, social development, and environmental protection, we are able to address today’s energy challenges while maintaining our license to operate in communities around the world.