Environmental protection is among ABB’s
top corporate priorities. We address environmental issues in all of
our operations and public policies.
ABB is a signatory to the ICC Business Charter for
Sustainable Development and has adopted the 16 principles of the
Charter, reproduced below, as its environmental protection
policy.
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1.
Corporate priority
To recognize environmental management as
among the highest corporate priorities and as a key determinant to
sustainable development; to establish policies, programs and
practices for conducting operations in an environmentally sound
manner.
2. Integrated management
To integrate these
policies, programs and practices fully into each business as an
essential element of management in all its functions.
3.
Process of improvement
To continue to improve corporate
policies, programs and environmental performance, taking into
account technical developments, scientific understanding, consumer
needs and community expectations, with legal regulations as a
starting point; and to apply the same environmental criteria
internationally.
4. Employee education
To educate,
train and motivate employees to conduct their activities in an
environmentally responsible manner.
5. Prior
assessment
To assess environmental impacts before starting a
new activity or project and before decommissioning a facility or
leaving a site.
6. Products and services
To develop
and provide products or services that have no undue environmental
impact and are safe in their intended use, that are efficient in
their consumption of energy and natural resources, and that can be
recycled, reused or disposed of safely.
7. Customer
advice
To advise and, where relevant, to educate customers,
distributors and the public in the safe use, transportation, storage
and disposal of products provided; and to apply similar
considerations to the provision of services.
8. Facilities
and operations
To develop, design and operate facilities and
conduct activities taking into consideration the efficient use of
renewable resources, the minimization of adverse environmental
impact and waste generation and the safe and responsible disposal of
residual wastes.
9. Research
To conduct or support
research on the environmental impacts of raw materials, products,
processes, emissions and wastes associated with the enterprise and
on the means of minimizing such adverse impacts.
10.
Precautionary approach
To modify the manufacture, marketing
or use of products or services or the conduct of activities,
consistent with scientific and technical understanding, to prevent
serious or irreversible environmental degradation.
11.
Contractors and suppliers
To promote the adoption of these
principles by contractors acting on behalf of the enterprise,
encouraging and, where appropriate, requiring improvements in their
practices to make them consistent with those of the enterprise; and
to encourage the wider adoption of these principles by
suppliers.
12. Emergency preparedness
To develop
and maintain, where significant hazards exist, emergency
preparedness plans in conjunction with the emergency services,
relevant authorities and the local community, recognizing potential
transboundary impacts.
13. Transfer of
technology
To contribute to the transfer of environmentally
sound technology and management methods throughout the industrial
and public sectors.
14. Contributing to the common
effort
To contribute to the development of public policy and
to business, governmental and intergovernmental programs and
educational initiatives that will enhance environmental awareness
and protection.
15. Openness to concerns
To foster
openness and dialogue with employees and the public, anticipating
and responding to their concerns about the potential hazards and
impacts of operations, products, wastes or services, including those
of transboundary or global significance.
16. Compliance
and reporting
To measure environmental performance; to
conduct regular environmental audits and assessments of compliance
with company requirements, legal requirements and these principles;
and periodically to provide appropriate information to the Board of
Directors, shareholders, employees, the authorities and the
public.
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