A message from Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saint-Gobain.
Our efforts in terms of innovation, development in emerging countries and operational improvements have been fruitful, supported by generally favorable circumstances. Despite the sluggishness of the French market, our activities have gained ground in all our businesses and major geographical areas of location: Europe, the United States, but also emerging countries which, over the course of a few years, have become key contributors to the growth of our sales and our profitability.
With a view to maintaining this growth pace, all our teams are involved in an extensive move to overhaul the company, impacting all its facets: R&D (proud to once again rank
Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saint-Gobain
To establish a relationship with these consumers, Saint-Gobain has rolled out a brand awareness campaign aimed at the general public. The Saint-Gobain brand represents a promise to create materials designed for the well-being of each of us and the future of all. This promise is illustrated in the “Multi-Comfort” program, which ensures the acoustic, thermal and aesthetic qualities of homes. This commitment is also demonstrated in our Corporate Social Responsibility (again proud to have ranked second worldwide in the sector on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, from our first participation) and in our solutions, which promote environmentally-friendly development.
It is both a commitment of the Group and my personal commitment to meet the challenges of climate change. It is our responsibility as a manufacturer to assign an internal carbon price to our investments and our research projects, to promote sustainable construction. This is also a growth factor, since our customers increasingly value the economic benefits of sustainable solutions. As a result, Saint-Gobain is transforming constraints associated with urbanization, demographic growth and resource scarcity into development opportunities, and is acting as an exemplary leader.
My hope is that readers will find, in this 2016 Registration Document, all the facts to convince them of the quality of the performance of Saint-Gobain, of the ongoing commitment of all its employees, who I especially wish to thank, and of their loyalty to the mission of the Group: to create great living places and to improve daily life.
Commitments linked to the challenges of sustainable development
- Climate commitment
The Paris Agreement ratified in 2016 creates a multi-dimensional framework for economies to implement carbon reduction policies. Recent COPs on climate change have marked a turning point, with improved participation in climate negotiations from non-government actors, including businesses. An example is the introduction of “business dialog”, in which Saint-Gobain plays an active part, with the aim of creating a space for dialog on climate change between governments and businesses. This momentum was further enhanced at COP22 in Marrakesh in November 2016, where Saint-Gobain was involved in several side events.
Businesses have a key role to play in the search for solutions to climate change. Saint-Gobain is among the 1,200 non-state actors that signed the Paris Pledge for Action on Climate Change. Saint-Gobain is pursuing and strengthening its commitment to environmentally-friendly growth and a reduced-carbon world. This commitment encompasses five main areas of focus:
- achieve global net emission reductions at the least economic cost with clear, effective and predictable carbon pricing mechanisms and complementary economic signals;
- ensure that international trade and investment rules will positively encourage actions to help combat climate change;
- deploy efficient mechanisms to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings and transportation;
- support this transition by ensuring the long-term viability of measures taken locally;
- introduce certifications to demonstrate the environmental benefits of products.
2. Developing the circular economy
Saint-Gobain has two priorities for managing raw materials and waste: minimizing production waste and optimizing the recycled content in its products without affecting their performance. As a responsible stakeholder in sustainable building, the sustainable management of resources in conjunction with stakeholders in the regions and in compliance with local regulations is a major challenge for the Group.Saint-Gobain is a contributor to the debate on the circular economy and has repeated its support for strong goals for the building sector. In France, the Group has been heavily involved in the AFEP circular economy work group, which prepared a report and recommendations presented at the COP22. The construction sector generates several million metric tons of waste per year. Saint-Gobain is introducing projects to recover building or demolition waste, such as waste reduction at source with eco-innovation, on-site sorting of waste, and recycling of the waste collected. The Group has contributed to a number of local initiatives to promote sustainable building.
In France, in April 2016 Placoplatre signed a green growth commitment for plaster waste recycling with the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and the Sea. This innovative approach is part of a collaborative effort involving public bodies, the French national union of plaster industries (Syndicat National des Industries du Plâtre) and key players in the plaster industry.
Internally, pilot projects are emerging locally, and cross-functional task forces have been started to identify resources and potential recycling lines. In January 2014, the Group Research & Development Department implemented a cross-functional program on end-of-life waste recycling, with the specific goal of analyzing prospects for innovation to provide for optimal use of resources.
As part of this program, a seminar on construction waste recycling brought together some 40 participants from the Marketing, Purchasing, EHS and R&D Departments of all the Activities in the Construction Products, Innovative Materials and Building Distribution Sectors. These meetings were an opportunity to emphasize existing internal best practice, to better understand recycling through the intervention of outside companies that are experts in this field, and finally, to present R&D studies, both current and future, being pursued through the cross-functional program.
3. Contribution to the public debate on sustainable development
As a way of ensuring that it is closely involved in the ongoing national and international debate on the environment and sustainable development, and that it can share its experience in these areas as a manufacturer, Saint-Gobain has been a member of Entreprises pour l’Environnement (Businesses for the Environment, EpE) since the organization was founded. EpE is a grouping of around 40 major French and international companies representing all sectors of the economy, who are keen to address the environment more effectively in their strategic decisions and in the way they do business. Pierre-André de Chalendar was the Chairman of EpE from 2012 to 2015.In 2016, Saint-Gobain also joined the WBCSD, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. WBCSD is a worldwide grouping of 200 companies that deliberate on and develop solutions for a more sustainable world. Saint-Gobain is particularly involved in WBCSD initiatives relating to climate change, building energy efficiency (BEE), sustainable cities, and the circular economy.
Saint-Gobain takes part in all kinds of events on the theme of sustainable development. As such, it was involved in a high-level dialog on sustainable resource management between scientists, governments and industry, organized by UNEP in November 2016, and also attended the second Business and Climate Summit (BCS), which was held in London in June 2016 to look at issues relating to carbon pricing. Saint-Gobain is also a member of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Energy Efficiency Industrial Advisory Board and spoke at the first conference on energy efficiency organized by the agency. Lastly, in 2016 Saint-Gobain joined the advisory board of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI).
