+1 - Solvay

Resources area, beginning with
the reformulation of our main
policies. These revised policies,
based on careful examination of
our primary processes and on
the desire to manage all HR data
on a single information system,
are now deployed consistently
throughout the Group. This largescale
initiative, directly supported
by the Executive Committee, will
continue in 2008. Concretely, we
have laid the foundations for the
“Solvay Corporate University”, and
have also launched the “Yes” and
“Youth Employment” programs,
all to promote the training and
development of our present
and future personnel. Particular
attention is also being paid to
the multicultural nature of our
human resources.
Finally, our new Code of Conduct,
backed by a world-spanning
training plan, strives to strengthen
the practice of the Group’s Ethical
Values by all employees.
From the very beginning Solvay
has sought to act as a good
corporate citizen and to respond to
the concerns of each succeeding
era. This is why we have defined
our commitment to Sustainable
Development, which will be actively
deployed in 2008 and will be set
out in our report “For Sustainable
Development 2008-2012.”
Our emphasis is on processes
that are more sparing of natural
resources and energy and
respectful of the environment and
that reduce strains on it (emissions
and effluents) to acceptable levels.
2007 was the year of the Bali
Conference on climate change
and the publication of the IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change) report, telling us that
industrialized countries absolutely
must cut their greenhouse gas
emissions by 25% to 40% by 2020
at the latest.
We are focusing our research on
original processes that consume
less energy and raw material and
are also cleaner, assisted in this
effort by the Innovation thrust that
we initiated several years ago.
With our multiple partnerships,
research projects and innovative
ideas, and with the rapid progress
of our New Business Development
(NBD), we have set in motion a
formidable machine for building
the future, perfectly consistent with
our signature “Solvay, a Passion for
Progress ® .”
Energy and raw materials costs
are becoming increasingly volatile.
Here too we are working to
consolidate our positions. With our
policy of vertical integration, we are
progressively limiting our exposures
by gaining optimal mastery of our
value chains.
Ready for tomorrow
What does the future hold in store
for us? What are the challenges
of tomorrow? In the short term,
for 2008, people are talking of
the impact of the US financial crisis
and a slowing of the economy.
We believe the Group to be well
prepared here. Our strategy has
proved its worth in recent years
and we will continue in the same
direction.
One thing we can be sure of: our
behaviour today will have a decisive
effect on the future of humanity.
This is why we have elected to look
much further ahead than 2008,
thirty years forward and to ask
ourselves: what will Solvay look
like in 2038, when it celebrates its
175 th anniversary, and how will we
prepare for this unknown?
Part of the answer lies in
encouraging research and
Innovation, opening even wider
our doors and our minds to
contributions from outside, and
allocating our resources more
selectively in a way that includes
new assessment criteria. We need
to dream of what is unimaginable
today and to make it reality, as
is so well symbolized by the
Solar Impulse solar aircraft, now
under construction, which is fast
moving from a dream on paper to
a tangible object.
Christian Jourquin
Chairman of the
Executive Committee
Chairmen’s message
Aloïs Michielsen
Chairman of the
Board of Directors
Chairmen’s
message
Solvay Global Annual Report 2007
7