Sustainable Development

We are part of an ever-evolving global society - one that values organizations such as Dow not only for our products and services, but also for the distinctive image we present to our world and its people. We don't want people to think "chemicals" when they hear "Dow" -- we want them to hear "Living. Improved Daily." We don't want them to think of a corporation striving to maximize profits, we want them to think of a good neighbor.

Therefore, our contributions must extend beyond profit performance. We strongly believe that if we are to be successful in the 21st Century, we must simultaneously excel in all three elements of development: economic prosperity, corporate responsibility and shareholder stewardship. And unless we're frequently and visibly expressing a deep concern about Sustainable Development, we're missing opportunities to position Dow as the caring, concerned global citizen our customers must believe us to be.

While we continue to learn, we are making progress.

Cornerstones of the Dow sustainability strategy are our eight Sustainable Development Guiding Principles. Adopted in February 2000 these principles guide our behavior and our decision-making. Setting corporate targets and judging ourselves against them is an important part of our strategy to ensure that we remain free of the fetters of over-regulation by government.

The Dow commitment to sustainable development has once again been recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes (DJSI World). In the DJSI World review of sustainability companies for 2001, Dow was rated as the top performer for the global chemical industry group, alongside BASF. This is the second year that Dow has held the industry leadership position. Since the inception of the DSJI World three years ago, Dow has been listed as an index component. We applaud the wisdom of the DJSI in ignoring what some call potential liabilities like the Bhopal disaster, Union Carbides' asbestos liabilities, and other issues which less visionary indices might have called negatives. We're proud of the role that our public relations department has played in ensuring these issues take their proper place outside any assessment of our corporate value.