Welcoming 2022 as the year of corporate action on sustainability and climate change

2021 was a landmark year for climate change from start to finish. Leaders rose above the challenges of the global pandemic to assemble in Glasgow, Scotland, for the United Nations climate change conference to recommit to decarbonizing and growing resiliency. The United States bookended the year with an “all of government” executive order in January and an infrastructure bill paving the way for a modernized energy ecosystem and investments in breakthrough technologies in November. And we saw consensus on climate finance, deforestation, and carbon markets from diverse countries across the globe.

From my perspective, one of the most significant developments of 2021 was the rise of companies in stepping up to be key partners to solutions. As of March 2021, at least one fifth of the world’s 2,000 largest public companies had committed to net zero targets. This alone is significant. But for companies like GE, our focus goes beyond reducing our own emissions. Our priority is to take action to innovate the technology the world needs to achieve climate change and sustainability goals.?

While it’s good to see increased corporate commitments in 2021, I believe 2022 will be the year of corporate action. Here are five 2022 priorities for GE as we focus action on being a key contributor to climate change, energy transition, and sustainability solutions.

1. Innovating breakthrough technologies:?GE has one of the most important roles to play in delivering the technology the world needs to make progress today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including renewables (wind and hydropower), gas, nuclear, and grid, as well as jet engines that run on sustainable aviation fuel. In 2022, momentum is growing to demonstrate breakthrough technologies that will deliver the next step of progress toward goals. We’re excited about working with our partners to innovate carbon capture, hydrogen as a fuel, small modular reactors, and grid infrastructure and software to accelerate the energy transition, and the CFM RISE (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) program to enable the future of smarter, more sustainable flight. We are innovating artificial intelligence for a growing role in more precise healthcare.
2. Enabling an equitable and sustainable transition globally: As a company that operates in 170 countries, our overarching sustainability commitment is to lift the quality of life for all people everywhere. In 2022, we will utilize our unique global footprint to tailor technology to the needs and conditions of diverse environments. We feel passionately about decarbonizing the energy sector while ensuring that all people have access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy, particularly the one billion people without access to energy; making precision health diagnosis more accessible for the half of the world’s population that are underserved and hard to reach; and leading a sustainable future of flight so that all people can thrive by staying connected to family, friends, and economic opportunities.
3. Prioritizing partnership: We know that it will take much more than any one company, government, or entity to succeed with these goals. In 2022, GE will prioritize partnerships across all our stakeholders—customers, investors, governments, NGOs, and our competitors—to ensure the necessary progress for sustainability across energy, healthcare and aviation. We look forward to building and leading coalitions with diverse stakeholders across the globe toward these common goals. Just this week, our GE Healthcare business announced a collaboration with Boston Scientific to bring a comprehensive cardiology offering to cardiac care centers in Southeast Asia, taking an important step forward in delivering precision health to the region.
4. Supporting policies that promote the role of technology toward ambitious goals: We will actively support policies that complement the transition toward success. In 2021, we were proud of the role we played supporting global action at COP26 and with the Biden Administration on climate change policies. Looking ahead to COP27 in Egypt, we are planning for heightened engagement throughout the year to help formulate and support policies that advance a just transition and sustainability goals globally. We know the details matter at this stage, and we will bring our deep technical expertise to the table to educate and join governments and others in the pathways to these goals.
5. Delivering our ambitions while creating companies with sustainability at their core: Our top focus for 2022 is succeeding in the commitments and ambitions we have set for our sustainability programs. This is a driving force for our 174,000 employees who are united in achieving our sustainability goals. As GE looks ahead to form three industry-leading, global public companies in energy, healthcare, and aviation, we are excited about the unprecedented opportunity to create three companies with sustainability at their core.?

As this video shows, we’re all proud of what we accomplished at GE in 2021.?Yet, I’m even more energized for the momentum leading into 2022 to make meaningful progress toward sustainability and climate change goals. I look forward to working with our stakeholders to take action and advance progress together. There is a lot more to be done, and GE has never been more committed to our larger purpose of building a world that works—for everyone.

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