Stakeholder engagement and voluntary collaborations We proactively engage and collaborate with stakeholders from a cross-section of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, businesses, industry associations, investors, academia, communities, and employees. Some examples: As a founding member of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment (UNEP-SPBF), IBM is helping to demonstrate how data and advanced information technology can underpin new solutions to persistent environmental problems. In 2021, IBM participated in the launch of the UNEP-SPBF Asia chapter, sharing information on how: – Farmers are using insights enabled by data and AI to improve crop yields. – The Plastic Recovery Insight and Steering Model platform (PRISM)—co-developed by IBM and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste—is digesting disparate data and applying analytics to help inform decisions to reduce plastic waste leakage. – The IBM-developed VolCat process can turn PET (a type of plastic commonly used in food packaging and polyester clothing) into a renewable resource. – IBM is identifying new catalysts that enable efficiency improvements in the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to new materials such as aliphatic polycarbonates. Environmental impact ↗ For more than 50 years, IBM has committed to environmental responsibility—a commitment formalized by our first corporate environmental policy in 1971, which integrated environmental responsibility throughout the fabric of our business. IBM views environmental leadership as a long-term strategic imperative, demonstrated today as we continue to set ambitious goals and apply our technologies to accelerate solutions to global environmental challenges. Global environmental management system IBM’s corporate environmental policy provides the strategic framework for the company’s global environmental management system (EMS). IBM has sustained a formalized EMS for decades, and it is continually updated to reflect our company’s intersections with environmental matters. The global applicability and scope of IBM’s EMS covers hardware product design, manufacturing, data centers, real estate operations, procurement, logistics, asset recovery services, and business services. This year marks the 25th anniversary of IBM’s single global registration to the ISO 14001 EMS standard and 10th anniversary of IBM’s single global registration of its EMS to the ISO 50001 energy management systems standard. Both registrations have been maintained continuously. 21 goals for environmental sustainability In 2021, IBM announced an updated set of 21 comprehensive, voluntary environmental sustainability goals that address the ways in which today’s IBM intersects with the environment. Collectively, the goals cover energy and climate change, conservation and biodiversity, pollution prevention and waste management, supply chain and value chain, and our global EMS. We establish near-term goals that are transparent and authentic to drive real progress and accountability. We work hard to avoid opaque representations of achievement. For detailed information about each of these goals, please see “Driving progress with 21 goals for environmental sustainability.” 39 IBM 2021 ESG Report