Financial Statements - Solvay

8
1. Omega and Deutsche Bank
are the two other main
partners in Solar Impulse.
Solvay Global Annual Report 2008
The June 2008 strategic review confi rmed the
main themes decided upon earlier: a strategy
of sustainable and profi table growth.
The review mainstreamed sustainability in the
midst of the upheavals of every kind confronting
the world.
• Above all this is a forward-looking
approach, with which we intend
to prepare our Group’s long-term
future. Projecting ourselves well into
the future, to 2038, when Solvay
will celebrate its 175 th anniversary,
is leading us to rethink our products
and processes, our R&D portfolio
and our markets;
• Chemistry and life sciences are
part of the solution to the problems
facing humanity today. We need
to bring answers to the global
challenges of tomorrow;
• Solvay is looking to play an active
part in the fl ow of history, remaining
in step with a constantly and rapidly
changing world, and anticipating in
its strategy large-scale movements
like competition for access to
energy and raw materials, the
sustainability of our planet and
major changes in society at large;
• Solvay also wants to pursue its
founder’s work. Ever since it was
founded, our Group has always
acted as a socially responsible
company, maintaining a leading
position;
• The Group’s Vision, Mission and
Strategy as previously defi ned
continue to apply and now
incorporate Strategic Development
as a major contextual driver in all
future decisions.
These strategic ambitions have been
translated into action plans and
objectives, with three horizons: long,
medium and short term.
The fi rst horizon, Solvay 175,
sets out the Group’s long-term vision.
It is based on the strong conviction
that chemistry and life sciences are
key elements in achieving Sustainable
Development and that Solvay has
both the ability and the obligation to
use the full range of its knowledge in
creating new solutions. This involves,
in particular, rethinking our product
and research portfolios, improving
energy effi ciency while minimizing
waste and targeting long-term carbon
neutrality, and securing our raw
materials and energy sources without
competing with the food chain.
All this will be done in a spirit
of openness, maintaining open
dialogue with all our stakeholders,
while mastering open innovation,
networking and employee training.
One example of this openness
and dialogue was the meeting in
September 2008 on these topics
between senior Group management
and employee representatives on the
European Works Council.
The second horizon, Solvay 2020,
is structured around two focal points.
The fi rst is evolving our product
portfolio towards a better balance of
sustainability between the processes
which generate these products
and the markets they address. The
second is the Group’s commitment to
signifi cantly improve its environmental
and social footprint.
The third horizon involves starting
work immediately on a series of
projects that need to produce
measurable effects no later than
2012. Successfully implementing
these projects should enable us to
achieve our short-term (2012) and
medium-term (2020) objectives,
thereby leading the way for
Solvay 175.
The initiatives for 2020 and 2012
are quantifi ed with targets and
corresponding indicators. These
are described in detail in our report
“Towards Sustainable Development –
Assessment and Prospects
2008-2012”.
During the 2008 strategic review,
Solar Impulse was chosen as the
central symbol of the Group’s
commitment to Innovation and
Sustainable Development, which
are the cornerstones of tomorrow’s
Solvay. Can we imagine a world
less dependent on fossil energies
and resources, where wastage of
resources has disappeared and
where environmental impacts are
minimized, but also a world of
progress in which the development
and well-being of humanity are
preserved?
The Solar Impulse project is above
all a symbol for all of us. It seeks
to generate maximum support
for technologies that will permit
Sustainable Development and
generate a positive attitude towards
renewable energies. It is drawing
people’s attention to the behavioural
changes that are essential in order
to ensure the energy and ecological
future of our planet, it is giving a
positive and stimulating image to
environmental protection, and it
is showing that alternative energy
sources, allied with new technologies,
will, through innovation, enable us to
achieve what was hitherto thought
impossible.
Solar Impulse has set off into the
adventure with a solar aircraft. By
fl ying both day and night on board
a craft that has mastered the use of
clean, readily available solar energy,