Our Commitment
A Message from Rich Kramer
The world is changing at a faster pace than most of us can remember. Through it all, Goodyear continues to be guided by our commitment to quality, integrity and sustainability. These values come to life in our 72,000 associates around the world, who have persevered through unprecedented crises, continued serving our customers and maintained their dedication to each other and our communities.
Over the past 12 months, Goodyear made significant progress in a variety of areas that we believe are critical to our long-term vitality. One of those areas is sustainability, which we define as responsibly balancing environmental, societal and financial demands without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
While we have always considered sustainability as an essential part of our business strategy rather than simply an add-on, its inclusion in our refreshed Strategy Roadmap makes our commitment clear and definitive for all our stakeholders and illustrates that sustainability is an integral part of our culture.
Last year, Goodyear also established several long-term sustainability goals, including net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a commitment to all renewable energy in our facilities by 2040 and to be known as having the safest operations in the world. Additionally, we are making progress on previously stated goals of complete petroleum oil replacement in our products by 2040, and a tire made of 100% sustainable materials by 2030. As evidence of our commitment to these goals, the talented team of scientists and engineers featured on the report cover developed a demonstration tire in 2021 with 70% sustainable material content. We're proud of the progress they and other associates are making toward our sustainability goals.
While we can make progress alone, we've learned throughout our history that we can go so much further by building relationships with companies that share our passion for technology-driven solutions for a world of new mobility. As fleets of shared, electric and autonomous vehicles grow in use, Goodyear will be at the forefront of products and services to keep the world moving.
One example of this is the introduction of Goodyear SightLine, a suite of technologies—including intelligent tires—that enables fleets to identify and address problems in real time. SightLine led to our collaboration with Gatik, the first autonomous middle-mile logistics provider in North America. We look forward to more collaborations like this to help shape a new, more sustainable mobility ecosystem.
In this Corporate Responsibility Report, we reflect on the progress we have made along our sustainability journey. You will read about Goodyear’s climate goals, our support of human rights and our corporate responsibility ambitions. However, we also look ahead to the future. We have accepted the high expectations of our brand and our products, including those from our customers who are looking to us to help them meet their sustainability goals and to work with them to shape the mobility revolution. We embrace the opportunities those expectations present and remain committed to keeping the world moving and to building a better future that enables Goodyear associates to deliver high-quality products and solutions for today and tomorrow.
RICHARD J. KRAMER
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
Richard J. Kramer
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
A Message from Ellis Jones
Businesses today are faced with helping to solve some of the most consequential challenges we’ve ever seen. While the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for understanding the scope of the challenges, businesses must internalize how to leverage their business model to enable sustainable environmental and social outcomes.
I’m very excited about the progress Goodyear has made to integrate sustainability, set bold ambitions and chart a course toward a more sustainable business model. Our 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report highlights the work of our global associates as we develop strategies for responding to the challenges of today and tomorrow. Throughout all our work, the level of engagement across our organization has been inspiring. Our associates tell us sustainability is important in their personal lives. They also believe it’s a key driver for Goodyear’s success. From climate change to equality and inclusion to sustainable production and consumption, our associates know these challenges will not be solved by doing business as usual.
All companies around the world, including Goodyear, continue to face the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While supply chain disruptions are a visible example of the disruption caused by COVID, other effects are often harder to see. Since the pandemic began, we have paid special attention to its effect on our people. Such conditions as lockdowns, restricted movement, alternative working conditions, absenteeism because of illness, and others have had an impact on the mental and physical wellness of our associates. We believe that an essential part of our corporate responsibility is caring for our people, providing them the support they need to maintain good health.
While this is clearly the right thing to do, it also reflects our commitment to viewing our strategy through the increasingly important lens of environmental, social and governance (ESG) obligations. While we continue to build our functional capacity and capability to deliver outstanding performance across these areas, we elevated our focus on social issues, including human rights, in 2021. Through our newly launched Human Rights Steering Committee, we are developing an enhanced human rights strategy that aligns with the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and includes action in policy and scope, implementation and engagement.
Our work to improve in all ESG areas is best described by the four pillars of our Goodyear Better Future framework — Sustainable Sourcing, Responsible Operations, Advanced Mobility and Inspiring Culture. Built on that foundation are our plans for the future, whether anticipating challenges, taking advantage of opportunities or increasing our expectations of ourselves as a corporate citizen. Within this report, you will find evidence of how each of these pillars come to life in everything we do. We believe you’ll also see how the pillars are connected to each other, to our business model and to our refreshed Strategy Roadmap.
Additionally, this report reflects the beginning of a new chapter in Goodyear’s history with the acquisition of Cooper Tire. Since the acquisition did not close until June 2021, we won’t fully integrate Cooper performance into this report until our 2022 edition. However, you’ll read about some of Cooper’s employees and their activities, all of which fit perfectly with Goodyear’s strategy. Until then, we are focused on blending our strengths, increasing our agility and improving our efficiency as one company.
The foundation of Goodyear’s corporate responsibility gives us the strength to act responsibly today while providing a vantage point to anticipate changes ahead. While we are building a more sustainable business enabling Goodyear to win today and tomorrow, the real winners will be those impacted by our outcomes—our associates win, the environment wins and our communities win.
ELLIS A. JONES
Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer
Ellis A. Jones
Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer
