Steve Demetriou

Welcome message from Steve Demetriou, Chair & CEO

A Commitment to Action

The recent Sixth Assessment Report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) leaves no doubt that “human influence is the principal driver of many changes observed across the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere.”

The nearly 4,000-page report, signed off by 195 governments from around the world, is sobering in its conclusion that many of these observable changes to our natural environment, due to past and future emissions, are irreversible. But the report also provides positive actions.

The good news? As a global society we still have an opportunity to respond to this unprecedented, multi-generational challenge if we — and we must — take immediate and sustained actions to harness the political, economic, societal, technological and natural resources necessary to transition to a net zero economy.

A Commitment to Our World

At Jacobs, we are leading in this global transformation — and as a purpose-driven company, we have a pivotal role to play. We released our Climate Action Plan on Earth Day 2020 with two main commitments: 1) achieve 100% renewable energy for our operations each year, and 2) achieve net zero carbon across our operations and business travel beginning in 2020, with a plan to be carbon negative by 2030. And, as part of our transparency and accountability around our commitments, we are reporting our progress through Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting.

Along with accomplishing our 2020 targets, we developed science-based, carbon-reduction targets for our direct and indirect emissions, which have been approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative. Jacobs is also playing a leadership role in our industry as we help shape and develop the new standards to accelerate sustainability. We joined the World Economic Forum – Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders and the UN Global Compact’s Chief Financial Officer Taskforce for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Finally, spanning both our internal and external business operations is PlanBeyond℠ 2.0, our refreshed sustainability strategy, which focuses on fully integrating sustainability into everything we do — both in our operations and in the solutions we create for our clients — in alignment with the United Nations SDGs. And we recently created the Office of Global Climate Response & ESG, a new corporate function that acts as the connecting point for Jacobs’ end market and enabling market capabilities, to advance our goal of having 100% of our client solutions contributing to climate response and the UN SDGs by 2025.

A Commitment to Our Clients

Given the nature of our business, we know that Jacobs’ greatest opportunity to positively address climate change comes from the resilient and sustainable solutions we deliver in partnership with our clients: helping them transition from fossil fuel to clean energy; decarbonizing the transport and manufacturing sectors; addressing water scarcity and biodiversity loss; designing waste and pollution solutions underpinned by regenerative, nature-inspired circular economy principles; building long-term resilience into city and municipality infrastructure assets; providing critical support in response and recovery efforts in the wake of extreme weather and climate events; and improving the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities throughout the world. I invite you to explore these challenges and how our thought leaders are solving them with insight, imagination and innovation in this issue of Reimagined Perspectives.

Our purpose at Jacobs is to create a more connected, sustainable world — shaping solutions for a future that incorporates sustainable principles as essential to the well-being of all people and our planet — and in the process, enabling all generations to believe in the reality of a resilient future where we thrive in harmony with our planet.

Please join us on this transformational journey, as we challenge today to reinvent our tomorrow. ■