Sustainability, at its core, is about ensuring our needs are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. It’s a multifaceted concept encompassing environmental, social, and economic factors. Understanding and embracing sustainability is crucial for preserving the planet and fostering a balanced, equitable, and prosperous future for all. With a rise of global climate crisis the companies worldwide face scrutiny over environmental and social responsibilities.
As a leading semiconductor company STMicroelectronics emerge as a powerful force by committed to become carbon neutral by 2027 towards a sustainable future. This commitment is part of their response to the global climate challenge and reflects ST ambition to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment and to accelerate the stakeholders transition to a carbon neutral design.
In an exclusive media briefing held on March 20, 2025, India Mr. Edoardo Auteri, Sales & Marketing Head of Sustainability Programs, APeC Region at STMicroelectronics, shared insights into ST’s glorious 30 years of sustainability journey. From manufacturing to market ST is setting new benchmarks in semiconductor sustainability.
STMicroelectronics Approach towards Sustainability.
For three decades, ST business model has been built on a foundation of sustainability. ST ambition is to create sustainable technology for a sustainable world, creating long-term value for all their stakeholders. ST strongly believes that their dedication to a sustainable culture is beneficial for people, the environment, the economy, and society.
Focus on Actions
- Year 2002 – Safety certification: ST is one of the first semiconductor companies certified OHSAS 18001, replaced in 2022 with ISO 45001. We committed to putting people first.
- Year 2005 – Responsible operations: ST were amongst the first members of EICC (now RBA, Responsible Business Alliance), deploying sustainable and responsible practices in our operations and then engaging our suppliers to do the same.
- Year 2019 – GHG reduction goal achieved in advance: By implementing strong measures in their sites, and with the support of standardized management systems (ISO14001, ISO 50001…), ST reached our 2025 CO2 reduction goal 6 years ahead of target and took their environmental strategy to next level.
- Year 2025 – 28 years of sustainability reporting: ST has published its first integrated annual report, marking a significant milestone in its efforts in this field.
Openness and accountability is the key to ST for establishing robust sustainability governance.
ST is accelerating with four fundamental pillars – Sustainable Technology, Prioritizing People, Protecting the Planet and Clear Commitments. ST includes sustainability criteria among performance indicators for both short-term and long-term incentive schemes for all senior executives and all other employees eligible for incentives. Sustainability has been in ST DNA for over 30 years that’s why they’ll continue to strive to build a more sustainable world.
- Sustainable Technology: ST’s Sustainable Technology program was launched in 2011.It creates sustainable technology in a sustainable way, to make a positive contribution to the world. ST’s Sustainable Technology program is based on a robust lifecycle approach. It means they take care of improving their social and environmental footprint at every stage of the product’s life.
Mr. Auteri in his presentation emphasized that ST’s innovation pipeline is engineered with sustainability at its core. The company’s main focus is to develop those products which further empower industries to adopt greener practices such as:-
● Ultra-low power chips such as STM32 that extend battery life in IoT devices.
● Environmentally & socially responsible products & applications – we classify these products into four categories of responsible products such as: Low-carbon products, Power-efficient products, Planet-friendly applications and Human-welfare applications
● Intelligent sensing and control systems that support renewable energy integration and smart grids.
2. Prioritizing People: People are the greatest asset for ST. Along with the sustainable practices in various processes from manufacturing to developers, ST’s emphasis on to Ensuring health, safety and well-being of its people.
● Over 90% of employees globally received training in ethics, human rights, and sustainability best practices.
● Focused efforts on diversity, equity, and inclusion, with dedicated programs to promote gender balance and leadership opportunities for women in tech.
● Enhanced health and safety standards at manufacturing sites, and support for mental well-being, especially in post-pandemic recovery periods.
3. Protecting the Planet: ST first environmental report was issued in 1998 and it set their vision to be recognized as a leader in environmental care. In 2020, ST announced their commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2027 on scope 1 and 2 and on product transportation, business travel, and employee commuting from scope 3. ST carbon neutrality program includes a comprehensive strategy covering the reduction of direct and indirect GHG emissions and the sourcing of 100% renewable energy by 2027.
Till now the company has achieved significant milestones:
- 71% of electricity used in 2023 came from renewable sources, increasing to 84% by the end of 2024. To reach 100% renewable energy by 2027, ST has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with TotalEnergies in France, Centrica Energy in Italy, and ENGIE in Malaysia.
- Reduction in direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through electrification, advanced water recovery systems, and zero-waste initiatives.
- Implementation of eco-friendly manufacturing processes, helping reduce water consumption, control emissions, and minimize the use of hazardous substances.
- Commitments and Long Term Goals: As a global semiconductor company serving customers with innovations ST create semiconductor solutions that contribute to solving environmental, social and societal challenges. The company’s 2024 report lays out detailed targets and achievements, reaffirming its long-term commitment to stakeholders.
Key highlights include:
● Alignment with 1.5°C scenario Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for GHG reduction. ST’s carbon neutrality target from 2027 covers all direct (Scope 1), indirect (Scope 2), and select Scope 3 emissions such as product transportation, business travel, and employee commuting.
● Integration of circular economy principles in product design and waste management.
● Regular sustainability audits and third-party assessments to ensure adherence to ethical standards across the value chain.
ST was recognized in 2024 in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (World and Europe), received an MSCI AAA rating, CDP Climate A and Water A- ratings, and a Platinum Medal from EcoVadis, placing it among the top 1% of companies assessed.
ST core values of Integrity, People, and Excellence guide us in this mission to create a positive impact on the environment and society
Contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
ST’sdedication to a sustainable culture has been closely aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The company has mapped the 17 SDGs to their material topics, sustainability programs and business strategy. ST have identified the 11 goals that are most relevant to their sustainability strategy.
Some of the Significant Goals that Mr. Edoardo talked about in his presentation are:-
- To be carbon neutral each year from 2027, covering scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, plus product transportation, business travel and employee commuting emissions from scope 3.
- To achieve a 20% overall reduction in absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 vs 2024.
- To abate at least 90% of our climate adverse process gases (CAPG) emissions by 2030.
- To achieve a 10% reduction in our Scope 3 upstream GHG emissions by 2030, and a 20% reduction by 2035, vs 2024.
- To adopt 100% renewable electricity by 2027 through energy procurement and renewable energy installations and maintain this percentage each year thereafter.
- To annually save energy, achieving cumulative energy savings of 100 GWh by 2035, versus the baseline year 2024.
- To further decrease Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from ST’s manufacturing sites, to achieve an overall 70% absolute reduction by 2030 vs 2024.
- To have an annual water recycling rate of at least 60% by 2035.
- Each year, to reuse, recycle, and recover at least 95% of our waste, and to limit waste disposal to below 5%.
For more details, please visit: https://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/about/sustainability.html
