Baxter Publishes Annual Corporate Responsibility Report, Reinforcing Longstanding Commitment to Making a Meaningful Difference

DEERFIELD, Ill. - 2023-06-26

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), a global medtech leader, today published its 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report. The annual report, which features performance updates on the company’s 2030 Corporate Responsibility Commitment and Goals, demonstrates Baxter’s steadfast commitment to operating as a responsible corporate citizen and to providing transparent information on the environmental, social and governance topics most important to its stakeholders.

“Baxter is always focused on creating value for our stakeholders – from the patients and clinicians that rely on us to the communities where we live and work. That means not only taking corporate responsibility seriously, but leading with it in all that we do,” said José (Joe) E. Almeida, chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Our values are rooted in our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives, which inherently motivates Baxter employees around the world to do business the right way and make a positive impact on our patients, our planet and our people and communities.”

2022 Corporate Responsibility Highlights

Baxter’s approach to corporate responsibility is grounded in creating a more sustainable and responsible business model and driven by the objective of making a meaningful difference worldwide. Launched in 2021, the company’s 2030 Corporate Responsibility Commitment features 10 goals that support an overarching pledge to “Empower our Patients,” “Protect our Planet” and “Champion our People and Communities.” Key accomplishments from 2022 include:

• Grew Baxter’s peritoneal dialysis (PD) Ambassador Program to help reach more underserved kidney patients. The Program was launched in 2021 to educate clinicians about PD and the role clinicians have in empowering shared decision making, patient choice and digital health. By the end of 2022, the Program included Ambassadors from 30 countries, including 26 developing countries, who advocate for patient access to home dialysis in their markets.
• Completed more than 160 energy conservation projects, which avoided an estimated 10,600 metric tons CO₂ e of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) during the year[i], in addition to the completion of three new on-site solar installations that are expected to reduce GHG emissions by approximately 1,400 metric tons CO₂ e annually[ii] beginning in 2023.

• Invested $51 million in underserved communities through strategic partnerships and product donations from both Baxter and the Baxter International Foundation. This includes more than $7 million to advance racial justice through the company’s Activating Change Today (ACT) initiative, a core component of Baxter’s comprehensive commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Prioritizing Stakeholder Engagement and Transparent Reporting

Materiality assessments help a company understand and prioritize topics that are important to the long-term sustainability of its business. In 2022, Baxter conducted a new materiality assessment to help assess its approach to corporate responsibility following the acquisition of Hillrom in late 2021 and to align with the evolving interests of Baxter and its stakeholders. This year’s report outlines the assessment’s findings, including six topics that were identified as priorities, all of which are already embedded in Baxter’s corporate responsibility approach: Business Ethics and Compliance; Business Model Innovation and Resilience; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Patient Safety and Product Quality; and Sustainable Product Design and Packaging.

In addition, today’s report includes Baxter’s 2022 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Index in alignment with the Medical Equipment and Supplies Sustainability Accounting Standard. Building on a more than 30-year history of reporting environmental performance, Baxter plans to further enhance its transparency and disclosures by reporting against the framework established by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in a standalone publication later this year.  
 

Continued Recognition of Leadership in Corporate Responsibility

Baxter continues to be recognized by external organizations as a corporate responsibility leader and an employer of choice. In 2022, among numerous global, regional and country-specific recognitions, the company:

• Was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices – DJSI World and DJSI North America; Baxter has appeared each year since the indices launched, in 1999 and 2005, respectively.
• Was named to 3BL Media’s list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens.
• Was designated as one of America’s Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital.
• Was included in the FTSE4Good Index Series.
• Scored 100% on the 2022 Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, designating Baxter as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality; this marked the eighth consecutive year the company has received a perfect score.
• Was cited among top scoring companies on Disability:IN’s 2022 Disability Equality Index, designating Baxter as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.
• Was recognized by Seramount on its 2022 lists of the 100 Best Companies, Best Companies for Dads, Top Companies for Executive Women and Best Companies for Multicultural Women; and named a leading organization on the 2022 Seramount Inclusion Index.

Learn more about Baxter’s corporate responsibility initiatives here.

About Baxter

Every day, millions of patients, caregivers and healthcare providers rely on Baxter’s leading portfolio of diagnostic, critical care, kidney care, nutrition, hospital and surgical products used across patient homes, hospitals, physician offices and other sites of care. For more than 90 years, we’ve been operating at the critical intersection where innovations that save and sustain lives meet the healthcare providers who make it happen. With products, digital health solutions and therapies available in more than 100 countries, Baxter’s employees worldwide are now building upon the company’s rich heritage of medical breakthroughs to advance the next generation of transformative healthcare innovations. To learn more, visit www.baxter.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

This release includes forward-looking statements concerning Baxter’s 2030 Corporate Responsibility Commitment and Goals and other plans and initiatives described in the release. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: the company’s ability to execute and complete strategic initiatives, asset dispositions and other transactions, including the proposed spinoff of the company’s Renal Care and Acute Therapies product categories; demand for and market acceptance for new and existing products; product development risks; inability to create additional production capacity in a timely manner or the occurrence of other manufacturing or supply difficulties (including as a result of natural disasters, public health crises and epidemics/pandemics, regulatory actions or otherwise); satisfaction of regulatory and other requirements; actions of regulatory bodies and other governmental authorities; product quality, manufacturing or supply, or patient safety issues; changes in law and regulations; and other risks identified in Baxter's most recent filing on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and other SEC filings, all of which are available on Baxter's website. Baxter does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements unless otherwise required by the federal securities laws.
 

Baxter and Hillrom are registered trademarks of Baxter International Inc. or its subsidiaries.

[i]Estimated GHG emissions avoidance includes savings from 2021 projects that carried over into 2022 in the 12 months following project implementation.

[ii]Estimated GHG emissions avoidance is calculated for the 12 months following project implementation.