A Letter From Edward Breen

In June of 2019, we created a truly new DuPont with a clear purpose – to empower the world with the essential innovations to thrive. Our purpose is rooted in the passion and proven expertise of our people, to use science and innovation to create sustainable solutions for the complex challenges facing our world. What we didn’t know at the time was how quickly our purpose and resolve would be tested.

Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been guided by our Core Values to place the highest priority on the safety and well-being of our employees, customers, suppliers, and communities. Our colleagues are working tirelessly to support the massive effort to provide critical protection to healthcare and other front-line workers who bear the greatest burden in the fight against this pandemic. Our science and innovation capabilities enabled us to rapidly create and deploy new tools in this battle and we will continue to advance those, along with targeted in-kind and financial donations, to provide as many as possible with our solutions.

A strategic first year

In 2019, we transformed our portfolio and the way we operate, and today we can confidently describe ourselves as a high value, multi-industrial company. We designed a business specifically tailored to address a fundamental challenge facing the world right now – the need for sustainable innovation that meaningfully advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and protects the resources we have now, and for future generations. 

Our actions are shaped by our strategic priorities to drive change by addressing megatrends like climate change, circular economy, water stewardship, product safety and transparency and health and wellness. The 2030 Sustainability Goals we launched in 2019 underscore the importance of our collective action as a company and a global community, bringing sustainable innovations to market while reducing negative impacts along the value chain.

Our commitment to transparency and sustainability also includes our policies and protocols. Always guided by the science, this past year, we established a set of bold commitments to manage per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).  I’m pleased with the progress on delivering promises we made in 2019. Specifically, we eliminated the use of long-chain PFAS from our processes, including recently integrated operations.  I encourage you to review our PFAS Commitments to learn more about the progress on actions we are taking. 

Essential innovations to thrive

As a global specialty products company, we’re helping customers across industries and countries make real progress to improve safety, productivity, efficiency and profitability while reducing waste, energy consumption and environmental impacts. To be able to pursue valuable innovation opportunities that embody our core values of Safety & Health, Respect for People, Highest Ethical Behavior, and Protecting the Planet, is a great source of pride. 

A clear example of this is the value and impact of our Water Solutions business. In 2019, we augmented our portfolio in this growth segment by acquiring four strong technologies to strengthen our offering and leverage state of the art technologies to deliver more robust solutions faster.  Across the globe, our Water Solutions technologies are processing over 25 million gallons of water every minute—that’s five gallons a day per person.  Our actions are helping put us in an even stronger leadership position to deliver against our goals and fulfill our purpose to provide enough clean water for people around the world.  

Equity through action

Even as our business evolves, we fully recognize we have more work to do. Our approach to sustainability means more than contributing to our stakeholders’ lives; we must act to empower people everywhere to achieve a more just and equitable world for all. That is why I was proud to sign on to the Catalyst CEO Champions for Change, pledging to advance more women, particularly women of color, into senior leadership positions and onto our board, and the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which commits DuPont leaders to take measurable action in advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. As an early signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, we are also committed to advancing ethical business practices across our value chain to promote human and labor rights, environmental protection, and anti-corruption.

We are living in a time of profound change on a global scale, yet in the face of unprecedented health, economic, and societal challenges, I am personally hopeful and encouraged by the progress of innovation to respond quickly to our changing environment. We have the science, products and people to continue to effect real, sustainable change, and as you’ll see, this year’s report illuminates examples of our 2030 Goals, as well as areas where we’re intensifying our efforts.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our sustainability achievements and the journey we are on, and for your continued interest in DuPont.

Edward D. Breen

Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer