The Vice President of Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety, and Chief Sustainability Officer, is the top environmental executive at IBM. This person is authorized to set IBM's strategy for environmental affairs, including matters related to climate change, and to establish the company's environmental requirements, goals, and management system to drive consistent execution across IBM's global operations and achieve results consistent with environmental leadership.
The Directors and Corporate Governance Committee of the IBM Board of Directors oversees IBM's environmental programs and performance and is responsible for reviewing and considering IBM's position and practices on significant public policy issues, such as protection of the environment, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and philanthropic contributions. The Vice President of Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety meets with the board committee annually to discuss IBM's environmental programs, performance, challenges and emerging issues.
Climate change is a serious concern that warrants meaningful action on a global basis. IBM considers risks as identified by the TCFD in its risk management process. IBM, like other companies, is subject to potential climate-related risks and costs, such as those resulting from increased severe weather events, prolonged changes in temperature, new regulations affecting hardware products and data centers, carbon taxes, and increased environmental disclosures requested or required by clients, regulators, and others.
IBM senior management assesses the significance of environmental and climate-related risks and opportunities, and manages them accordingly. Senior management regularly reports to the Directors and Corporate Governance Committee of the IBM Board of Directors on IBM’s environmental programs, challenges, and emerging issues.
IBM does not expect climate change or compliance with environmental laws and regulations focused on climate change to have a disproportionate effect on the company or its financial position, results of operations, and competitive position. Conversely, we believe that there is opportunity to use IBM’s AI, hybrid cloud, and other technologies to assist clients with managing their climate-related risks.