ABB launches its first annual `sustainability’ report

By Control Engineering Staff June 19, 2002
Jörgen Centerman, president and ceo of ABB.

London – Jörgen Centerman, president and ceo of ABB , gave for the first time a “sustainability report” on his company’s activities in 2001.

The report measures economic, environmental, and social achievements and is intended to be a broader index of corporate performance than the usual year end financial reports, he explained.

The “triple bottom line” reporting framework has been encouraged by the Global Reporting Initiative, an organisation funded by the U.N. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Sustainability is at the heart of our business. With our power and automation technology products and solutions, we help our customers use less energy, cut their consumption of raw materials, and reduce waste,” Mr. Centerman said.

ABB topped its industry group in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the third consecutive year in 2001, and was rated among the top five corporate environmental performers in India.

Mr. Centerman said ABB would aim to raise its sustainability index by improving its own financial performance, extending environmental management systems within the company, implementing new social policies for its workers, and promoting electrification projects in impoverished areas.

The environmental standard ISO 14001 has been implemented in 98% of ABB’s 550 manufacturing and service sites worldwide.

He said automation, and specifically the Industrial-IT program, was “the spine throughout the whole organisation” that made the technical achievements possible. He calculated that the installed base of ABB variable speed drives reduces global carbon dioxide emissions by 50 million tons annually, equal to the annual emission of a city of six million people.

The sustainability report is available on the ABB web site at www.abb.com

Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Michael Babb, editor, Control Engineering Europe
michael.babb@cahnerseurope.com