“ In March 2007, Solvay’s Executive Committee wished to express more formally its policy and strategic commitment towards sustainable development and the way the Group’s social responsibility would be exercised. This commitment is included in Solvay’s Mission and Vision statement, the aim being to respond consistently to various complex but fundamental issues. These relate to our role as a large consumer and converter of natural resources (fossil fuels, limestone, salt, water, etc.), to the direction being taken by our portfolio of products and services, and to our geographical expansion and the associated socio-economic implications. We requested all the Business Units to carry out analyses which, when put together, would allow us to take the right decisions. It is a difficult undertaking, as we are having to learn to look differently at the various situations, seeing them from the perspective of a leap into the future.
Change is possible. The impetus for this will come from involving everyone and from each person’s will to adopt and see his or her targets and initiatives within the reference frame to which I have just referred. It is against this background that, more than ever, we are asking each employee to identify with the commitments into which we have entered, and to seize every relevant opportunity.
We are also calling on all our stakeholders to help us appraise the expectations and constraints in this actively changing world. We have created a variety of opportunities for dialogue, in order to perceive more readily these stakeholders’ expectations. You can judge what progress we have made from the following pages. Our renewed adherence to the global Responsible Care® charter and the many initiatives already taken with regard to sustainability show that the Group’s commitment in this area is nothing new.
Our message is therefore one of optimism. Science, partnerships and openness to dialogue are among our Group’s strengths. They will enable us to design a greener chemistry for tomorrow and to establish ourselves as “suppliers of solutions for the future”, all the while helping solve the problems of today.
It is for industry, and for us at Solvay, to meet the expectations in this area that I can detect. It is for us to show we are capable, responsible, making a significant contribution to solving the problems now facing society, in a word proud of being chemists.”
Christian Jourquin, Chairman of the Executive Committee
“ In March 2007, Solvay’s Executive Committee wished to express more formally its policy and strategic commitment towards sustainable development and the way the Group’s social responsibility would be exercised. This commitment is included in Solvay’s Mission and Vision statement, the aim being to respond consistently to various complex but fundamental issues. These relate to our role as a large consumer and converter of natural resources (fossil fuels, limestone, salt, water, etc.), to the direction being taken by our portfolio of products and services, and to our geographical expansion and the associated socio-economic implications. We requested all the Business Units to carry out analyses which, when put together, would allow us to take the right decisions. It is a difficult undertaking, as we are having to learn to look differently at the various situations, seeing them from the perspective of a leap into the future.
