NAME: KYRA WHITTEN COMPANY: FLEX INDUSTRY: DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING JOB TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT, SUSTAINABILITY
The business of manufacturing doesn’t just impact environmental issues – such as climate change – but also has a leading role in helping address societal challenges, like community building, diversity and inclusion. Furthermore, it continues to drive stronger governance practices and transparency. At Flex, stewarding sustainable manufacturing practices has always been at the core of what we do, however, we are in the business of manufacturing, which means we have an even greater responsibility to our employees, customers, shareholders and the planet to be as transparent about our sustainability progress as possible. When addressing sustainability challenges, it’s important to look at each measure as part of a whole – how does meeting environmental goals affect communities, how do the communities where we operate influence our diversity and inclusion goals and how can our leaders at Flex act as sponsors and educators to empower the next generation? 48
September 2021
Building on nearly 20 years of experience, we have ingrained sustainability deeper into our business strategy and company values. That’s why we launched our most ambitious sustainability goals this year and joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to help guide us in setting the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets required to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as outlined in The Paris Agreement. We don’t take our responsibility to sustainability lightly. With a network spanning about 1,000 customers and 16,000 suppliers, we aspire to leverage where we are in the ‘value chain’ with a view to encouraging good practices. We are collaborating with 50% of our preferred suppliers to set their GHG emissions reduction targets by 2025, while hitting 100% by 2030. We are also partnering with 70% of
“ Our customers rely on us when working toward their sustainability aspirations. Many of them want to better understand their product lifecycle’s environmental impact” KYRA WHITTEN
VICE PRESIDENT, SUSTAINABILITY, FLEX