Siemens 2008 Annual Report Download - page 90

84 Fit42010 – Corporate Responsibility
Sustainable global development is not just the responsibility of governments and nonprot organiza-
tions. With its extensive resources, the private sector also has a vital role to play. But it’s essential to
have a comprehensive strategy – like the one ratied by the UN in 2000 and incorporated in its eight
Millennium Development goals, which place poverty eradication, peacekeeping and environmental
protection at the top of the international agenda. Building on its vision of a sustainable and more
equitable world economy, the UN is aiming to bring about tangible improvements in social and eco-
nomic conditions worldwide by 2015.
Leveraging our core competencies as a supplier of public infrastructure systems in the areas of water
treatment, energy, mobility and healthcare, we’re already making important contributions to the
UN effort:
Protecting the climate with efficient energy supplies
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. Energy-efcient technologies
have a key role to play in the struggle to mitigate global warming and minimize the consequences of
the droughts, ooding and other disasters that follow in its wake. We began focusing on these tech-
nologies early on and have made combating climate change a cornerstone of our corporate responsi-
bility strategy. Today, our broad range of high-efciency, ecofriendly energy products and solutions
is virtually unparalleled (see The Siemens Environmental Portfolio, page 24).
In the eld of renewable energy, our wind farms and steam turbines for solar thermal power plants
conserve resources by generating climate-friendly power. Our gas- and steam-turbine power plants
achieve up to 60 percent efciency – a rate that can be boosted to over 90 percent through the use of
cogeneration. And by utilizing state-of-the-art power transmission technologies – like our high-volt-
age direct-current (HVDC) systems – energy loss during long-distance power transmission can be
reduced to levels substantially below those achieved with conventional alternating-current transmis-
sion systems. We’re already implementing such energy-efcient solutions – milestones on the road
to green power – in India and China. But the challenges are even more daunting in many developing
nations, where basic power, communications, transportation and healthcare infrastructures are still
lacking.
Fit42010 – Corporate Responsibility
Our aim is to achieve continued success and protable growth
while maintaining an unwavering focus on our values – responsi-
ble, excellent and innovative. That’s why corporate responsibility is
one of the four drivers of our Company-wide Fit42010 program.
Marshalling our innovative strengths and nancial resources, we’re
helping implement the development goals set out in the UN Millen-
nium Declaration and realize the UN’s vision of a sustainable and
more equitable global economy.