Waiblingen, 3/10/2023 | Company press release

STIHL has joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest initiative for sustainable and responsible corporate governance. By participating, STIHL undertakes to align its corporate strategy with the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.

“Becoming a member of the UN Global Compact is a clear commitment to sustainable corporate governance, demonstrating our long-standing dedication to having a livable future,” said Dr. Michael Prochaska, STIHL Executive Board Member for Human Resources and Legal Affairs, who is responsible for sustainability. “The principles of the UN Global Compact and the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals are standards that serve as a vital guide in all our corporate processes, and which we intend to embed in all business areas.”

STIHL was already taking action to support the sustainability principles even before signing the commitment. Its past and current activities relating to sustainability were consolidated in a Group-wide sustainability strategy in 2021. Going forward, the company will report on its status and ongoing activities on a regular basis, by means of a progress report to the UN Global Compact. 

More transparency and sustainability in the supply chain

As part of the STIHL sustainability strategy, the family-owned company has set ambitious targets for 2030. STIHL wants to be climate-neutral, resource-efficient, and still fair in its work. As such STIHL is focused on protecting ecosystems, which also includes consistently taking action to fight climate change. Alongside this, STIHL wants to develop its internal processes and products along the principles of a circular economy to preserve resources. What’s more, the family-owned business insists on good working conditions for everyone who works directly or indirectly for the company.

It joined the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) in 2021, in order to analyze the supply chain for cobalt, and to make mining of the metal more transparent and sustainable. The RMI is a cross-industry organization with more than 400 member companies that support responsible sourcing of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas around the world. In addition to the cobalt supply chain, STIHL is currently analyzing potentially critical supply chains for magnesium and textiles.

“By joining the UN Global Compact and the RMI we are reinforcing our commitment to reconciling our corporate activity with ecological and social perspectives,” commented Dr. Michael Prochaska. STIHL has been documenting all its activities, targets, and progress in this area by means of a sustainability report since 2021. The 2022 Sustainability Report will be published at the end of May. More information is available at Sustainability at STIHL 

About the UN Global Compact

Based on the UN’s Ten Universal Principles and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN Global Compact, launched in 2000, pursues the vision of a more inclusive and sustainable economy. More than 21,000 companies and organizations in over 160 countries are already signatories to the UN Global Compact. www.unglobalcompact.org

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