Our ESG Approach
While conserving natural resources and protecting the environment have been and will always be part of our sustainability commitment, we have developed a broader ESG approach that includes commitments to social and governance leadership.
Whirlpool Corporation’s commitment to sustainability began half a century ago, in 1970, when we established our Office of Environment. Today we are accelerating our progress by delivering on our commitments to improve the environmental efficiency of our products and plants while making a positive impact on people and the planet. Our sustainability agenda is informed by stakeholder engagement and science-based methodology to focus on actions that drive absolute and positive environmental and social impact. We measure our outcomes and have a proven track record of success in driving environmental performance, social good, and sound governance. Senior Leadership is accountable for our progress and oversees ESG initiatives.
Products, plants, and people are the center of our approach, enabled by a strong focus on practices that utilize life cycle thinking, data systems, and process integration to make progress toward our key metrics and outcomes. We continue to invest in new ways of driving innovation into all that we do. We utilize the results of our materiality assessment to prioritize the most important ESG matters for our stakeholders and our business. In parallel, we have strengthened our processes to measure and assess key environmental performance and social engagement, drive strategic decisions, and better assess opportunities for impact.
Environmental insights from our materiality assessment and measurement processes helped guide our products, plants, and practices approach to focus on five key programs: Carbon, Plant Efficiency, Circular Economy, Design for Environment, and Sustainable Home Innovations. Each program was assigned with a senior leadership sponsor and a global sustainability leader.
These global programs will drive outcomes and opportunities, while assessing and mitigating risks enterprisewide. We are also working to integrate these programs and their key initiatives into critical internal functions, utilizing governance structures such as our new ESG task force, a dedicated responsible sourcing team, and a sustainability IT program focused on data systems and analytics. Additionally, we have mapped our programs to outcomes related to key life cycle impacts and to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In addition, we continue to make progress on our commitment to improve the lives of people in our communities. We work with community partners in constant pursuit of improving lives through house and home. Our emphasis on House focuses on providing shelter and security for individuals and families as the first step in their journey toward a better life in the home, while our emphasis on Home focuses on developing resilient communities through education and community development.
HOW OUR ESG Approach GUIDES OUR EFFORTS TOWARD THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The topics identified in our materiality assessment align with the UN SDGs as follows:
