Case Study: Eaton's 2030 Sustainability Strategy

Eaton has organized its sustainability strategy under four pillars: Engagement, Customer solutions, Footprint, and Doing Business Right & Transparency.

Notable commitments under these pillars include:

·         Committing to sharing minority & gender pay equity results and ensuring no human rights violations from key suppliers

·         Reducing carbon emissions from operations by 50%

·         Achieving carbon neutrality

·         Certifying 100% of manufacturing sites as zero waste-to-landfill

·         Certifying 10% of manufacturing sites as zero water discharge

·         Reducing scope 3 emissions by 15%

Eaton is integrating its sustainability targets into the broader business strategy by establishing an executive sustainability council chaired by the CEO. Moreover, the company plans to invest over $3 billion in research and development over the next 10 years to create sustainable and energy efficient solutions for customers. By 2030, Eaton aims to achieve a science-based target and carbon neutral operations through implementing energy efficient solutions in operations, optimizing renewable energy generation and purchases, greening energy contracts, and purchasing carbon offsets where necessary. The company’s sustainability strategy also involves accelerating their zero waste-to-landfill initiative and replicating their waste reduction approach to achieve their zero discharge water target. To determine and prioritize the key issues to address, Eaton conducted a materiality analysis with input from a diverse group of internal & external stakeholders. Recognizing the importance of engaging their workforce of more than 90,000 employees (globally) to meet their targets, Eaton has implemented numerous interdepartmental engagement, education, and empowerment initiatives.