DuPont (NYSE: DD) recently announced its 2030 Sustainability Goals, underscoring the importance of sustainability in fulfilling its purpose of delivering essential innovations to help societies thrive. The nine long-term goals are based on a critical assessment of the company’s capabilities coupled with the feedback of customers and stakeholders. The goals also draw inspiration from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to identify the world’s most important problems that need to be solved.

“DuPont’s 2030 goals set forth our priorities and align to the sustainability challenges that offer the greatest opportunity to deliver business value, increase resiliency across our value chains and enable people and societies to thrive,” said Marc Doyle, Chief Executive Officer for DuPont. “We’re focused on innovating solutions while protecting and empowering our people and the planet; and we pledge to work tirelessly over the course of the next decade to make meaningful progress against our nine goals.”

The company’s nine goals are grouped into three categories: creating sustainable innovations to help customers and the world thrive, increasing the sustainability profile throughout its operations and acting to ensure the inclusiveness, well-being and health of people and communities. Specifically, the company commits to the following goals:

1. Align 100 percent of the DuPont innovation portfolio to meaningfully advance the UN SDGs and create value for our customers;
2. Integrate circular economy principles into DuPont’s business models considering lifecycle impacts in the markets it serves;
3. Design 100 percent of its products and processes using sustainability criteria including the principles of green chemistry;
4. Reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions by 30 percent including sourcing 60 percent of electricity from renewable energy, and deliver carbon neutral operations by 2050;
5. Implement water strategies across all facilities at DuPont sites, prioritizing manufacturing plants and communities in high-risk watershed, and enable millions of people access to clean water through leadership in advancing water technology and enacting strategic partnerships;
6. Further DuPont’s commitment to zero injuries, occupational illnesses, incidents, waste and emissions;
7. Become one of the world’s most inclusive companies, with diversity well ahead of industry benchmarks;
8. Create a workplace where employees report high levels of well-being and fulfillment; and
9. Improve over 100 million lives through targeted social impact programs.

“Science drives the innovation that lies at the heart of our purpose, and now more than ever we’re directing that innovation toward technologies and solutions that can help us build a safer, healthier and more sustainable future for all,” said Alexa Dembek, Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer for DuPont. “Sustainability is one of the key drivers that highlights both megatrends in the market and significant innovation opportunities that are well aligned with our core business strategies. Today we put in place a set of goals with specific commitments to steer DuPont forward for the next decade so we can deliver on our ambitions as a global science and innovation leader. We look forward to collaborating across all boundaries to achieve these ambitions.”

Dembek spoke to the company’s commitments as well as its vision for connecting innovation and sustainability to drive business growth and societal impact at the Bloomberg Sooner Than You Think Conference in New York recently.