DALLAS, July 20,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark Corporation
published its annual report on sustainability, including an update
on the company's progress toward its 2030 sustainability strategy
and goals, aimed at addressing the social and environmental
challenges of the next decade with goals to improve the lives and
well-being of 1 billion people in underserved communities around
the world and reducing its environmental footprint.
"As Kimberly-Clark continues to grow our business, caring for
our people, consumers, customers, partners and communities remains
front and center," said Mike Hsu,
Chairman and CEO, Kimberly-Clark. "From our commitment to
climate stewardship and our efforts to develop more sustainable
solutions for our product portfolio to our focus on inclusion and
diversity and our ambition to advance the well-being of 1 billion
people around the world, we'll continue to drive positive impact as
we create long-term value for our shareholders. That's how we
deliver Better Care for a Better World."
Key highlights of the company's 2021 results include:
- Social Impact – Kimberly-Clark and its brands continued
to deliver toward the goal to improve the well-being of 1 billion
people in underserved communities by 2030 through programs like
Toilets Change Lives, No Baby Unhugged and the Kotex®
She Can initiative, as well as through partnerships with the
Kimberly-Clark Foundation, and NGOs including Water For People,
WaterAid and Plan International. In 2021, Kimberly-Clark advanced
the well-being of 15.7 million people in vulnerable and underserved
communities, raising our total to 41.4 million people since
2015.
- Climate – Consistent with the world's enhanced climate
action commitments coming out of COP26, the company made progress against
ambitious targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative
(SBTi) for reducing our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by
50% and our Scope 3 emissions by 20% – all by 2030. As of the end
of 2021, Kimberly-Clark achieved nearly a 41% reduction in
operational emissions (Scope 1 and 2) versus our 2015 base year.
For Scope 3 GHG emissions, we achieved a 6.3% GHG emissions
reduction from a 2015 base year, with a focus on purchased goods
and services and end-of-life treatment of sold products.
- Forests – The company made continued progress toward its
goal of sourcing 90% of our tissue fiber from environmentally
preferred fiber sources. In 2021, Kimberly-Clark achieved 87%
environmentally preferred fiber use globally, primarily by
increasing our procurement of virgin wood fiber certified by the
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) (63%) as well as
recycled fiber (24%) for our tissue products.
- Plastics – Kimberly-Clark continued its work to explore
more sustainable, commercially viable and scalable alternatives to
fossil fuel-based plastics. In 2021, the company doubled the
percentage of recycled content in our plastics packaging, and it
further increased the amount of packaging globally that is
reusable, recyclable, or compostable to nearly 84%, as it strives
for 100% by 2025.
- Water – In 2021, Kimberly-Clark achieved a 34% reduction
of water consumption in water-stressed regions against our 2015
baseline, of which 1.4% occurred in the last year, driven by our
strategic approach to water management, which centers around
technological innovation for circular solutions and best-in-class
management systems.
- Inclusion and Diversity – Kimberly-Clark continued to
foster a culture of inclusion that recognizes, values and
celebrates the diverse perspectives of our team. Among other
pillars of our strategy, the past year focused on leveraging
leadership to drive inclusion and diversity with initiatives
including educating team leaders through our Activating Inclusive
Leadership Lab to build high-performing, inclusive and diverse
teams.
- Health and Safety – As the world continued to navigate
through the global COVID-19 pandemic, the company prioritized the
health and safety of our people with global protocols that often
exceeded local requirements. A number of sites provided preventive
programs, including free on-site testing, vaccination clinics for
employees and family members as well as training and
education.
"Our purpose of Better Care for a Better World is our call to
action, challenging us to help billions of people through greater
access to life's daily essentials while building on our past
successes, scaling our use of efficient new technologies, and
delivering solutions that address the challenges facing our planet
in the decade ahead," said Lisa
Morden, Vice President of Safety, Sustainability and
Occupational Health, Kimberly-Clark. "We will remain steadfast
in our efforts to reach our goals because we believe it's the best
way to care for the people we serve, it's the right thing to do for
our planet, and it helps us deliver on our purpose."
In addition to the report, the company has provided enhanced
ESG-related content on its website in order to provide more
primary information about its overall strategy, progress and
achievements, and make it easier for stakeholders to find the
information that is most relevant to them.
"As its reporting format continues to evolve, Kimberly-Clark's
commitment to acting with care for people, communities, and the
planet remains resolute," added Morden. "In addition, maintaining
transparency in our ESG disclosures in order to engender the trust
of our investors, customers, consumers, employees, local
communities, and other stakeholders remains paramount."
Kimberly-Clark's annual sustainability report and accompanying
disclosures portray the company's progress through stories that
highlight our work around the world as well as key data and metrics
prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Sustainability Reporting Standards "Core" level. The reporting
covers the time frame of January 1,
2021 through December 31,
2021. For more information on the topics in this report,
please visit the sustainability page on Kimberly-Clark.com.
About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and
its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in
more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an
understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products
that help individuals experience more of what's important to them.
Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex,
Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus,
Neve, Plenitud, Sweety, Softex, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or
No. 2 share position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices
that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and
ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with
the latest news and to learn more about the company's 150-year
history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com.
Forward Looking Statements
All statements in this
news release that are not historical, including goals for and
projections of future results, the expected execution and effect of
our sustainability strategies and initiatives and the amounts and
timing of their expected impact, constitute forward-looking
statements that are based on management's expectations and beliefs
concerning future events impacting the company.
Many factors outside our control, including competitive
pressures, evolving legal and regulatory requirements, and societal
and market conditions globally and in the markets in which we do
business, could cause actual results to vary. Issues identified as
material for purposes of this release may not be considered
material for SEC reporting purposes. There can be no assurance that
these future events will occur as anticipated. Forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date they were made, and we
undertake no obligation to publicly update them. Please see
Kimberly-Clark's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent
SEC filings for a discussion of risk factors as they relate to
forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation