The company was also named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America for a 16th consecutive year. The new ratings go into effect Nov. 22 and are based on 2020 data.

"We congratulate Cummins for being included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the World and North America,” said Manjit Jus, Global Head of ESG Research for S&P Global. “A DJSI distinction is a reflection of being a sustainability leader in your industry. The record number of companies participating in the 2021 S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment is testament to the growing movement for ESG disclosure and transparency."

The Dow Jones announcement follows several recent awards and honors recognizing Cummins’ efforts to play a leadership role on the world’s climate challenges. The company was accepted into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge, one of 35 members with the goal to reduce scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% within 10 years. Scope 1 emissions include direct emissions owned or controlled by an entity while scope 2 emissions include emissions from the generation of purchased electricity.

That followed Prince Charles’ Nov. 3 announcement in Glasgow, Scotland, site of the COP26 global climate summit, that Cummins was one of 45 inaugural recipients of the Terra Carta Seal. The seal recognizes companies from around the world that are taking a leadership role within their industries on sustainability and decarbonization. The Prince of Wales is making a major push for climate action, challenging companies to restructure their business in a way that protects the world’s natural resources.

LEADERS ON CLIMATE ACTION

Cummins is working to improve its traditional products such as diesel engines through improved efficiency and the use of low- and no-carbon fuels, including hydrogen, while bringing to market new low-carbon technologies such as battery and fuel cell electric platforms. The company is also manufacturing electrolyzers critical to producing green hydrogen, a promising no-carbon fuel.

Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger told Forbes magazine during his visit to COP26 last week that the world is running out of time to address its climate challenges, and no single technology is the best answer to reducing carbon emissions in every application.

“It’s just that simple,” he told the magazine. “We are putting carbon in the atmosphere we cannot remove, so we need to get moving on all of them.”

Cummins Vice President Amy Davis, President of the company’s New Power business segment, was also in Glasgow. During an appearance on a panel at The New York Times Climate Hub, she said both battery electric and hydrogen fuel cells offer promising futures. But she also said technologies widely available today like advanced diesel are needed to remove as much carbon as possible now because once carbon is emitted, “we can’t get it back.”

The company has taken a number of steps to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from both its operations and by working with customers to reduce GHG emissions from Cummins’ products in-use.

For example, the company achieved 2020 intensity reductions in its plants and other buildings totaling 27% in energy and 41% in GHGs from a baseline year of 2010. Meanwhile, Cummins achieved a cumulative reduction of 21.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from Cummins’ products in-use since 2014, working with customers to use company products more efficiently.

Cummins has also launched Cummins Water Works to help strengthen communities facing climate-related shortages by developing sustainable water supplies. 

SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE ADVANCE, TOO

While Cummins received high marks from Dow Jones for its work on a variety of environmental matters (96th percentile) in 2020, it also praised the company’s social initiatives (91st percentile) and Cummins’ governance and economics (96th percentile) programs.

On social matters, the company had a strong year in 2020. The number of women and girls impacted by the gender equity law and policy changes resulting from Cummins Powers Women climbed to 17 million since the effort started in 2018. Meanwhile, the company successfully launched Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity (CARE), to focus on dismantling institutional racism in the United States following a summer of protests across the country. 

Cummins in 2020 also recorded the lowest Health and Safety Incidence Rate, the rate of recordable injuries at the company, in Cummins’ history. In addition, the company reported significant improvements in gender diversity, especially in the company’s leadership and executive ranks. 

The company’s Board of Directors also saw significant gains in gender as well as racial diversity in 2020 and early 2021. The board met 15 times in 2020 – three times its normal number of meetings, providing important leadership during Cummins’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cummins was dropped from the Dow Jones World Index in 2014 but maintained its place on the North American index. In recent years it narrowly missed returning to the world index.

More than 10.000 publicly traded companies were invited to participate in this year’s S&P Dow Jones sustainability review. Only slightly over 320 made the 2021 world index. Those companies come from more than 20 different countries and more than 20 industries, ranging from automobiles and components to media and entertainment to utilities. Cummins was in the capital goods category.
 

Scope 1 emissions include direct emissions owned or controlled by an entity. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling.

“Cummins has benefited greatly from its participation in the department's Better Buildings, Better Plants Challenge to reduce our environmental footprint,” said Mark Dhennin, the company’s Director of Energy and Environment for Facilities and Operations. “I’m confident this partnership will help us reach our aggressive carbon reduction goals for 2030.”

Other groups participating in this most recent Department of Energy (DOE) initiative range from Ford and General Motors, to the Deschutes Brewery in Central Oregon, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, which develops affordable housing in San Francisco. 

Any organization with a portfolio of buildings, plants or housing in the United States is eligible to join the DOE challenge provided they are willing to set a portfolio-wide goal of at least 50% emissions reduction over 10 years. In return, they can access technical assistance for reaching their goals through the DOE’s network of national laboratories as well as “peer-exchange” opportunities through conferences, webinars, regional meetings and more.

BUILDING ON SUCCESS

The program builds on the success of the Better Buildings, Better Plants Challenge, which Cummins drew on extensively to achieve intensity reductions of 27% in energy and 41% in GHGs by the end of 2020 from a baseline year of 2010. 

The company has established a new set of 2030 goals to build on the success of its 2020 goals, including several aligned to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to keep global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Among those new goals is reducing absolute GHG emissions from facilities and operations by 50%. The 2030 goals are included in PLANET 2050, the company’s environmental sustainability strategy adopted in 2019.

The Better Climate Challenge will allow the company to draw on both the expertise of other like-minded organizations and the DOE as well as share what it has learned since Cummins established its first public energy reduction goal some 15 years ago.

A RECORD OF INNOVATION

The company has implemented a number of innovative programs since then, supporting, for example, the expansion of a northwest Indiana wind farm to generate low-carbon power to help offset Cummins' electricity use from more traditional sources.

Cummins also created a trained cadre of employees to look for energy savings in their own particular locations. Finally, the company has now established solar installations at more than 40 locations. 

“Cummins has long believed in the power of partnerships to achieve critical goals,” Dhennin said. “Our partnerships with the DOE have not only produced environmental benefits, they have made our core products more efficient. We also know from experience we can learn a lot from other like-minded companies and organizations. I’m confident the relationships we develop in the Better Climate Challenge will help us reach our important goals.”
 

When you think of a machine powered by Cummins, our engines working hand-in-hand with wind power to move a vessel is likely not the first thing that comes to mind. Nevertheless, the Cummins Marine 4.5 engine is on course to set sail next summer powering the sailing superyacht. 

The vessel is currently under construction in Cape Town, South Africa, and will be ready to house our smallest marine engine offering in early 2022. The high-performance superyacht, constructed by Southern Wind, will be hybrid powered to reduce the emissions and fuel consumption of a classic diesel engine. This ensures an efficient, clean sailing experience regardless of whether the vessel is under sail or motoring. 

Chosen for its compact size and efficiency, the 150hp B4.5 propulsion engine will be combined with BAE Systems’ Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) to provide electric power to both the energy storage system and the vessel auxiliary load. BAE Systems is a progressive technology company working in multiple industrial spaces whose maritime subsidiary has a strong relationship with Cummins, having previously partnered on the Harbor Harvest project. Using BAE’s HybriGen Power and Propulsion technology, the sailboat will, in total, be fitted with an electric motor, two variable speed generators, a lithium-ion energy storage system and a vessel auxiliary power with shore power charging.

Compliant with IMO III standards, the sailing superyacht is a versatile, power dense vessel with deck hardware optimized for both quiet performance cruising and intense offshore racing. The vessel will also be able to operate in Hydrogeneration mode while under sail. In this mode, the propeller and propulsion motor will act as a generator allowing for recharging of the lithium-ion storage cells for a longer zero-emissions experience.

Following its recent launch, the new B4.5 liter engine package is ideal for sailors who prefer a calm, quiet ride thanks to the minimal noise produced by Cummins’ solution. The sailing superyacht is a perfect vessel to house our smallest (but mightiest) solution in the Cummins Marine lineup.

Find out more about the B4.5

The company has been accepted into two influential groups promoting climate action ahead of the global COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland (U.K.) starting Oct. 31. The Business Ambition for 1.5°C encourages companies to set robust emission reduction goals for greenhouse gases (GHGs) using science-based targets aligned to the 2015 Paris Climate Accords.

As a member of that group, the company has automatically been accepted into the United Nations’ Race to Zero, a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, investors, cities and regions for climate action.

It’s a natural alliance. Cummins worked with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in developing the company’s PLANET 2050 environmental strategy released in 2019. The strategy includes 2030 goals aligned to targets established in the Paris Climate Accords, and the aspiration to reach net zero emissions by 2050. 

The company also advocates for climate action through its participation with a number of groups, including the CEO Climate Dialogue, the Business Roundtable, the International Council on Clean Transportation and the global Hydrogen Council. Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger serves as Co-Chair of the Hydrogen Council. 

Linebarger says the world’s climate challenges threaten Cummins’ mission of making people’s lives better by powering a more prosperous world. 

“Climate change is the existential crisis of our time and the biggest threat to our mission as an organization,” Linebarger said. “So, we want to dedicate our innovation, our talent, our resources, and our investments to reduce our impact on the climate. Of course, we have a lot of other challenges to address at the same time to fulfill the needs of our stakeholders, but if we don’t address climate change, there will be nothing else to do.” 

A TRACK RECORD OF ACTION

Cummins combines its advocacy with a long record of working to reduce the environmental impact of the company’s core products such as diesel and natural gas engines. Since the 1990s, for example, the emission of two key contributors to smog from diesel engines, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, have been reduced by more than 95%. Facility goals between 2014 and 2020, meanwhile, produced GHG savings at Cummins equivalent to removing more than 100,000 cars from the road for a year.

The company has also been a leader in bringing to market low- and no-carbon power technologies such as battery and fuel cell electric. Those technologies are powering a growing number of vehicles such as school buses as well as the world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train. Cummins is also a leading manufacturer of electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen, a promising fuel for decarbonization. The company is now partnering on projects involving that technology with Spain-based Iberdrola, a global leader in no- and low-carbon energy production.   

Looking ahead, Cummins’ PLANET 2050 strategy includes two approved science-based targets timed to 2030. One is to reduce absolute GHG emissions from Cummins’ facilities and operations (scopes 1 and 2) by 50%, which is consistent with keeping global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The other is an absolute lifetime reduction in the company’s scope 3 GHG emissions from newly sold products by 25%. Scope 3 emissions include emissions from a product in use by a customer.

A GROWING VOICE FOR CHANGE

Acceptance into Business Ambition for 1.5°C extends the company’s reach on the advocacy front. Since launching two years ago more than 650 companies from around the world have joined the campaign with a combined market capitalization of $13 trillion. Other members include Apple, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, and Volvo.

The Race to Zero campaign has built a coalition of more than 3,000 businesses, more than 700 cities, more than 600 institutions of higher education and more than 150 investors supporting net-zero initiatives around the world. 

Alberto Carrillo Pineda, Managing Director of the Science Based Targets initiative, one of the partners in Business Ambition for 1.5°C, said it is critical to take action now.

“There is no time to lose,” Pineda said. “The transformation to a net-zero economy is unavoidable. …To stand a fighting chance of maintaining a habitable planet, we urgently need more companies to act on climate science and to decarbonize our economy.”

To learn more about Cummins' sustainability efforts, check out the company's Sustainability and ESG web pages.