Taking a practical approach to ESG, with value creation at its core

This week, we have released our latest ‘Sustainability at Smiths’ report for FY2024. The report outlines the progress we have made during the year on all aspects of our environment, social and governance (ESG) commitments. We are proud of our ESG achievements and have a strong foundation to build on this work in the years to come.

At Smiths Group we take a practical approach to ESG, with value creation and the growth and resilience of Smiths at its core. This approach is demonstrated tangibly in several ways, such as:

1. Using our exposure to megatrends to make a positive impact on the planet and drive sustainable growth for Smiths – and all our company stakeholders. We serve millions of people every year, to help create a safer, more efficient and productive, and better-connected world, and these megatrends provide important tailwinds to growth.
2. Supporting customers on their decarbonisation journeys, manage energy diversification and support the ultimate transition away from fossil fuels with our products, services and innovation. Here we have a strong and growing portfolio of green technologies – for example our John Crane team are present in c.70 energy transition-related hydrogen and CCUS projects, with a healthy project pipeline in place for the years ahead.
3. Developing a better understanding of our whole value stream– from supplier to customer – to create end-to-end value and maximise sustainable outcomes, including via circularity. Notably this year we have invested in a new supplier management platform to better align supplier commitments with our own as we continue to focus on meeting our scope 3 emissions target for 2050.
4. Integrating our Smiths Excellence System (SES) and key lean principles such as Continuous Improvement more deeply within our businesses and empowering them to grow faster and operate more efficiently. I am excited about this grass roots approach to SES, which will be a driver of sustainable growth for Smiths for years to come.
5. Focusing on our people as the essential foundation of our success – through safety and well-being, talent development and diversity, equity & inclusion. This is a core priority for Smiths and is fundamental to both who we are and how we do business. We continue to make progress here - in FY2024, we saw a 15% decrease in on-site incidents across our global sites, and launched a new, Group-wide Health, Safety & Well-being policy – but we know there is always more to do.
6. Supporting our communities. FY2024 saw the Smiths Group Foundation become operational with £1m of grants made to 12 global charities aligned with our purpose. Grants have focused on three outcomes: improving access to quality STEM education and skills for underrepresented groups; improving safety and connectedness within communities; and improving the environmental sustainability of those communities. The next round of funding is already being planned for FY2025.
7. Complying with ESG reporting requirements transparently and meeting our commitments to minimise our impact by respecting biodiversity, reducing emissions, water and waste. In FY2024 we delivered another year of robust reductions in GHG emissions from operations with a 10.7% reduction in Scope 1 & 2 emissions in FY2024 – and I’m proud to report that nearly three quarters (73%) of Group-wide electricity usage is now sourced sustainably. We also published new targets for the FY2025 to FY2027 period, with 30 biodiversity projects, 30 water saving projects and 30 waste/circularity projects targeted for completion over this period.
8. Building on our strong corporate governance culture. For example, we are guided by our Code of Business Ethics – our practical reference point for everyone in Smiths on how to behave when conducting business.

These are just a few of the themes and examples you will see in our latest report. I encourage you to take a read! You can access the full report here: www.smiths.com/sustainability/sustainability-report

Kini Pathmanathan is Group Head of Smiths Excellence and Sustainability.