Driving sustainability

Sustainability is one of the essential driving forces of Solvay’s overall strategy and performance and has long been deeply rooted at every level of the company, starting from the top level with Jean-Pierre Clamadieu’s membership of the Executive Committee of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

Board of Directors Executive Committee Definition of strategy and monitoring

Corporate Sustainable Development function Coordination and supervision

Champions and Correspondents Deployment

Employees Day-to-day action

Board of Directors Executive Committee

• Determine strategy
• Monitor execution, including results of the annual Solvay Way self-assessment
• Within the Executive Committee, the Climate Supervisor – first appointed in 2017 – ensures that climate issues are factored into every decision taken by the Group

Corporate Sustainable Development function

• Reports directly to the CEO
• Consolidates Solvay Way self-assessment
• Presents the results to the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee

Champions and correspondents

• Ensure the deployment of the Solvay Way process in all Solvay sites, GBUs and Corporate Functions
• Motivate their colleagues to fulfill precise objectives
• Set action plans to improve their processes and practices

Employees

• Assess the progress they have made
• Identify directions for improvement for each stakeholder group
• Design improvement plans to better include sustainability in their entities

Solvay Way, our approach to sustainability

Solvay Way encompasses all aspects of the Group’s sustainability approach to doing business. It ensures that social and environmental implications are integrated into the company’s strategy, operations and decision-making, by translating our ambitions for more sustainable development into concrete actions and clear responsibilities.

6

stakeholders

23

stakeholders

48

Solvay Way practices

One of our most exciting challenges is to embark all our employees in the sustainability journey. Solvay Way was designed to make everyone understand, from managers to operators, how they can contribute to the Group’s ambition: creating a sustainable value shared with our stakeholders. Solvay Way makes the connection between our stakeholders’ rising expectations, the engagement of our employees, and the financial and extra-financial value we create. 

Pascal Chalvon-Demersay, Group Chief Sustainability Officer

Engaging with our stakeholders

Solvay supports the United Nations Global Compact principles. We are committed to continuing to advance these principles within our sphere of influence by incorporating them into our strategy, culture, and day-to-day operations. 

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO

In a fast-changing world, the Group’s close relations with its stakeholders enable it to understand the present and future challenges that its customers face, as well as the trends that are shaping consumers’ demands.

Solvay has identified six categories of stakeholders: customers, employees, investors, suppliers, local communities, and the planet (which includes governments and NGOs). Engaging with them – and first and foremost with our employees – forms the basis of our strategy and actions and defines the frame in which we operate.

We take our roles as a chemicals producer, an employer, and a corporate citizen very seriously, and we want to promote this commitment worldwide.

Solvay is committed to the Responsible Care^® World Charter, which aims to achieve excellence in health, safety, and environmental performance through continuous improvement in the safe handling of chemical substances.

In 2017, the Group renewed a Corporate Social and Environmental Agreement with IndustriALL, the global union for the chemical, extractive, and manufacturing industries, ensuring that basic labor rights and the Group’s standards are respected for all its employees on all its sites.

True to its tradition of social protection, Solvay unveiled a bold initiative in 2017: Solvay Cares, a minimum level of company social benefits extending to all its employees, wherever they live.

As a signatory member of the UN Global Compact, Solvay commits fully to upholding its ten principles, which guarantee that companies meet fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption.

Solvay has an impact and contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through its daily business. We have chosen to focus on seven of these: SDGs 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 13, and 17.