A Do More Good Plan Update from IFF CEO Frank Clyburn

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Transcript:

Hi I’m Frank Clyburn CEO

At the end of 2022 when we announced our transformational strategic refresh Do What Matters Most we knew that our success centered on our ability to deepen our commitment to our extended IFF communities support our customers in their ability to meet their own sustainability goals and reduce our operational environmental footprint. Living up to our commitments – Be the Premier Partner Build the Future and Become One IFF – calls for us to embed environmental social and governance (plus sustainable solutions) in all we do and we are excited about the opportunities ahead of us our customers and all of our stakeholders.

Even though our commitment to ESG far predated our 2022 strategic refresh last year signaled the essential combination of our 2030 Do More Good Plan with our organizational strategy. Across our enterprise, we’re taking dedicated steps to ensure IFF innovation and expertise is clearly charting the course to do more good for people and planet.

At IFF sustainability falls within Research and Development the life’s blood of our company. That’s why it’s no surprise that when we put our robust innovation pipeline to work we’re constantly looking into how our products align with our own sustainable development strategy and that of our customers’. Circular by design – and taking the entire life cycle of a product into account – our sustainable solutions anticipate and support customer needs while responding to the growing trends of conscious consumerism. For example, to support our customers in meeting the growing demand for plant-based diets we’ve collected detailed carbon water and land use footprint data for a range of plant-based protein concentrates. This kind of information informs our cradle-to-gate life cycle assessments revealing greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts benefits and emission reduction opportunities.

As part of our dedication to climate & planetary health, we are taking bold science-based action as our global community faces the climate crisis and we remain on track to cut our 2021 GHG emissions in half by 2030. Last year we reduced our absolute GHG emissions by 6% below 2021 levels due to our focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects including signing our first virtual power purchase agreement in Europe. This reaffirms our commitment to meet the Paris Agreement goals – limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Named a CDP Climate A List company for the eighth consecutive year we look to maintain our momentum in corporate transparency and action year-over-year as we aspire to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 and be net positive by 2050.

In the spirit of equity & wellbeing, it is our responsibility to ensure our people thrive and stay safe when they come to work every day – and we welcome their ability to be their authentic selves when they walk through our doors. Gender representation for us is vital especially as we look toward succession planning and pay equity. We’re proud to share we’ve closed the gender pay gap across our reporting lines. And to date we’re the only business to achieve EDGE Move certification for the second time in a row. In addition to other third-party verifications our 2022 EDGE assessment offered us an elevated level of distinction: that of holding the largest number of EDGE-certified countries at one time with an unparalleled 27 countries.

When we launched our Do What Matters Most plan in 2022 we challenged ourselves to evolve our Board of Directors to align with best-in-class governance standards.

Governance underscores transparency & accountability and as part of our ESG+ commitment we actively strengthened our governance standards by expanding oversight at the Board level. We also are applying ESG metrics for GHG reduction and gender representation to annual bonus structures for executive leaders. Our board provides supervision over who we are as a company today and understands the risks and opportunities that lay within our current socio-economic global environment.

Now more than ever it’s important that companies take leadership roles to ethically address the pressing world-wide sustainable development challenges we are all facing. Even as we continue to feel the continued effects of the COVID pandemic on our population and our economy it’s imperative that we remain true to our sustainability value proposition as we strive to overcome unprecedented headwinds.

Looking ahead we know that there are certain dynamics and partnerships that will keep us solidly on the path to realize our purpose of applying science and creativity for a better world. Since 2015 we have been a member of the UN Global Compact committing to uphold its 10 principles on human rights labor environment and anti-corruption. As we work with our broader stakeholders throughout our value chain our employees and our customers we pledge to do more good while remaining rooted in our dedication to live up to our values and embed ESG+ in all we do.

With our Do What Matters Most strategic refresh and our ambitious 2030 Do More Good Plan our journey forward is clear and it is leading us to a better world.

Thank you.

Read the full Do More Good Report available now in our Report Library.