Speaker: Andrew Liveris, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Dow Chemical Company
Event: The Business Roundtable’s press conference to launch new sustainable growth initiative, “S.E.E. Change”
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date: 09/21/2005

Good morning.  As business people and as scientists in the field of chemistry, we are trained to set objectives and measure our progress towards achieving them and we tend to favor the use of quantitative data.  So in 1996 when we set out to improve the environmental, health and safety performance of the Dow Chemical Company, we were careful first to set unambiguous objectives and then to put in place a system of careful measurement.  For example, we wanted to reduce our employee injury and illness rate by 90%; incidents of leaks, breaks and spills at our plants by 90%; motor vehicle accidents by 50%; incidents associated with the shipment of our products by 90%; and reduce our energy intensity by 20%. 

We drew up these goals for a timeframe of 10 years because annual goals tend to be incremental.  We wanted people to think more boldly and to give enough time for our entire global organization to adapt the new mindset required to reach these goals. 

And now 10 years later, in 2005, comes the moment of truth, so to speak.  Well, I'm pleased to say that in most areas, we will either meet or exceed our goals. 

We learned a lot over the past 10 years.  First we learned that goals need to be ambitious.  We were not sure, for example, how we would achieve most of these objectives when we set them.  We also learned that everyone needed to buy in that environmental, health and safety performance was everyone's job - not just the responsibility of one person or one particular department, but a mindset among each of our 45,000 employees. 

We learned that, as fond as we are of numbers, that putting things on a human scale was far more motivating.  Our reduction in the rate of injuries, for example, meant that 11,000 people were not hurt on the job. We learned that we had to put public stakes in the ground… making both our objectives and our ongoing progress well known not only to our employees, but to our suppliers, our investors and to people in the communities where we live and work. 

And we learned – and are learning – from our failures.  For example, we will not reach our goal for reducing motor vehicle accidents by 50% and we are still trying to understand why that particular area is different from the others.

Now as we draw up our next set of 10 year goals, we are seeking to further improve in the areas I just outlined, with the ultimate goal of zero injuries and zero incidents.  But we are also looking at new areas, such as the use of alternative sources of energy and products that leave a much smaller environmental footprint.

For example, our plants generate a large volume of hydrogen as a by-product.  In our Texas operations we have recently partnered with General Motors to use that hydrogen in 400 fuel cells that, when fully deployed, will generate 35 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 25,000 homes.  A relatively small amount, but something that GM hopes will lead to the more effective use of fuel cells in automobiles.   

In our Dow AgroSciences business, we now have on the market a product that uses one ten-thousandth of the amount traditionally applied to destroy termites.  The system is self regulating, and therefore uses only the amount of bait necessary and nothing more – which is why this product is used to protect over 750,000 structures, including the White House here in Washington and the Senate Building in Rome, Italy.

Finally, let me say that we cannot ignore the economic pillar of sustainable development.  Yes, we have to do a better job as stewards of the environment, but we have to do so at a profit, which in turn has profound social implications.  Our investors get a fair return on their capital.  Our employees have well-paying jobs and good benefits.  Our communities benefit from the taxes we pay and the philanthropy we provide.  And our ultimate customers – people around the world – benefit from the things that chemistry makes possible: high food production, clean water, advanced medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, computers that are smarter, faster and smaller.  And that's just to name a few areas where chemistry makes possible both higher living standards and a better quality of life.