Smiths Group publishes 2023 ‘Sustainability at Smiths’ Report

LONDON - 12 October 2023: Smiths Group plc, a leading industrial technology company, today releases its annual ‘Sustainability at Smiths’ report. The report outlines the progress Smiths Group has made in its environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) performance in the financial year to July 2023, to protect and deliver value for all its stakeholders.

Smiths Group’s sustainability approach is fully integrated into its business strategy, with the commercialisation of high-value green technology contributing to growth. Key highlights of the year include:

• Doubling the hydrogen and carbon capture project pipeline, including being selected to supply the gas seals and systems for Canada’s flagship Net Zero Hydrogen project in Alberta and one of the world’s largest CCUS projects in Malaysia that will sequester up to 3m tons of CO2 per year;
• Being awarded a c.£1m grant by the U.K. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s CCUS Innovation 2.0 competition for innovative high temperature sealing solutions for supercritical CO2; and
• Booking revenue on the world’s first commercial-scale green steel plant utilising the Hydrogen-DRI process.

John Ostergren, Chief Sustainability Officer at Smiths Group, said: “Sustainability is at the heart of our purpose and central to how we create value. Our sustainability strategy is fully integrated with our business strategy and our Sustainability at Smiths report describes how this works in practice. We’re committed to creating value for all our stakeholders, through becoming an even more sustainable business.”

Smiths Group has signed up to the 1.5°C Business Ambition under the UN Race to Zero, covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions. In FY2023, Smiths Group submitted proposed targets to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the report includes a transition plan to deliver Net Zero emissions from Scope 1 & 2 operations by 2040 and Scope 3 by 2050. In FY2023 good progress was made against Smiths Group’s Net Zero roadmap including:

• Reducing absolute GHG emissions by 12%;
• Improving energy efficiency by 8%; and
• Increasing the renewable portion of total energy usage to 70%.

Aligning reward incentives to the results of our plans is a key part of Smiths Group’s strategy. In FY2023 Smiths increased its approach of aligning long-term incentive pay to ESG performance targets, adding energy efficiency as a metric, alongside reducing GHG emissions.

FY2023 was also a year of progress for Smiths Group’s people. Highlights include:

• Reducing recordable injuries across global plants and manufacturing sites by 26%;
• Reducing lost-time injuries by more than 40%;
• Increasing the representation of women in senior leadership roles to 25%; and
• Over 300 colleagues participating in the Accelerate leadership development programme.

Finally, in FY2023 Smiths Group was proud to launch the Smiths Group Foundation, committing an initial £10m to support STEM-related charitable organisations that embody the Company’s purpose of helping to improve our world through smarter engineering.

Dame Ann Dowling, Smiths Group Board member and Chair of its Science, Sustainability & Excellence Committee, commented: “There has been a real step change in engagement with sustainability matters at Smiths Group in the last couple of years. This is vital if we are to continue moving forward at pace. It is testament to the passion Smiths Group colleagues have for sustainability and the opportunities to participate that are offered right across the organisation. I look forward to seeing continued progress in the year ahead.”

For more information on the ‘Sustainability at Smiths’ report please visit www.smiths.com.

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Press contacts

Tom Steiner, Head of External Communications
+44 7787 415891 / Tom.steiner@smiths.com

Alex Le May, FTI Consulting
+44 (0)7702 443312 / smiths@fticonsulting.com

Investor enquiries

Siobhan Andrews siobhan.andrews@smiths.com

Ahmed Ammori ahmed.ammori@smiths.com

+44 207 004 1600

About Smiths Group

For over 170 years, Smiths Group has been pioneering progress by improving our world through smarter engineering. We serve millions of people every year, to help create a safer, more efficient and better-connected world, across four global markets:  Energy, General Industry, Safety & Security, and Aerospace. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Smiths Group employs more than 15,000 colleagues in over 50 countries. For more information visit www.smiths.com.