Alcoa Millennium Development Goals Report

Alcoa directly supports the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. The following is a summary of recent activities, investments, and partnerships for each goal.

Goal Alcoa Actions References
Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger In 2010, Alcoa Foundation invested US$150,000 in the following:
  • Income-generation skills development in Recife, Brazil;
  • Agriculture and animal husbandry in Pajiroba, Brazil;
  • Entrepreneurial training for the unemployed in Clarendon, Jamaica; and
  • Organic agriculture and household food security in Saramacca, Suriname.
Alcoa Foundation
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Achieve Universal Primary Education Education is a primary area of focus for Alcoa Foundation, which contributed US$260,000 in 2010 for the following:
  • Inter-generational education program in Sao Luis, Brazil;
  • Science and engineering scholarships for girls in Changsha, China;
  • Improvement in educational access for girls and school administrator training in Boke, Guinea; and
  • Career education in secondary schools in Clarendon, Jamaica.
Alcoa Foundation
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Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women Alcoa’s recruitment processes and practices ensure the protection and respect for all people and ensure that no individual is discriminated against on the basis of sex, religion, ethnicity, or political persuasion.

Human Rights Policy
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  In 2010, 10% of our incentive compensation for managers and executives was based on meeting targets to improve the diversity of our workforce with respect to representation of women and protected class employees in our global operations.

Inclusion
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  Since its founding in 2003, Alcoa Women’s Network (AWN) has been a catalyst for the development and advancement of women leaders throughout the company. AWN works to help improve the recruitment, retention, and promotion of these leaders within Alcoa.
AWN
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Reduce Child Mortality An ongoing partnership between Alcoa Foundation and K.I.D.S (Kids in Dangerous Situations) Foundation educates children about risk management and safe behaviors. K.I.D.S Foundation Partnership
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Improve Maternal Health In the remote areas of Suriname, a screening and early treatment program funded in part by Alcoa Foundation (US$30,000 in 2010) is helping prevent cervical cancer in high-risk women who traditionally had little to no access to such services. Suriname Cervical Screening Case Study
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Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases Alcoa locations worldwide provide health-related activities in the communities in which they operate, from screenings to prevention programs. Community Health & Safety
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Ensure Environmental Sustainability We commissioned a Global Sustainability Committee and an executive-level Global Sustainability Steering Team. We also named a chief sustainability officer reporting directly to our chairman and chief executive officer.

Sustainability Approach
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  We implemented a new set of strategic environmental sustainability targets to drive progress in our businesses to 2020 and, for some areas, to 2030.

Strategic Sustainability Targets
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  We initiated development of a requirement for all locations with substantive land holdings to develop biodiversity management plans by 2015. We began piloting plans at two locations during 2010.

Biodiversity
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  We included an annual energy-efficiency target as a component of our 2010 incentive compensation program.

Climate Change
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  During 2010, we achieved a 37% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions against a 1990 baseline. Our Global Primary Products business lowered its carbon dioxide (CO2) intensity by 7% over 2009 levels and achieved a 22% reduction over 2005 levels.

Climate Change
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  We reduced our freshwater-use intensity (consumption per unit of production) by 19% versus 2005 levels, exceeding our 2020 goal of 10%.

Water
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  In 2010, Alcoa Foundation contributed 33% of its total giving dollars to environmentally focused programs around the world. (Among all corporations, the average allocation is 5%.)

Alcoa Foundation
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  More than 29,000 employees from 24 countries participated in our 2010 Month of Service employee outreach campaign. Many of the activities were focused on the environment, including 16,000 trees planted and 250 rivers, parks, and recreation areas rehabilitated.

Month of Service
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  In 2010, thousands of shop-floor employees participated in a mandatory instructor-led or self-directed multiple-language course, Environmental Awareness in Manufacturing, as part of our ethics and compliance program. The program addressed environmental, health, and safety aspects of water quality, waste water, air quality, hazardous materials, and solid and hazardous wastes, in addition to record keeping and public reporting.

Ethics & Compliance Program
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  We pilot tested a draft protocol being developed by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development for accounting and reporting greenhouse gas emissions across a product’s life cycle.

Life Cycle Assessments
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  Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation are founding members of The Sustainability Consortium.

Life Cycle Assessments
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  Nearly one quarter of our Australian workforce and more than 1,500 of our U.S. employees were registered as part of our Make an Impact program at the end of 2010. The program has helped families identify more than 4.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide savings through the year.

Make an Impact
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  We supported various consumer recycling programs across the United States and launched an iPhone recycling application.

Consumer Awareness
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  We conducted pilot supplier sustainability processes in Canada, Latin America, and the United States and will implement a Global Supplier Sustainability Program in 2011.

Supply Chain Management
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  We continued commercialization of Red Sand™, which is derived from bauxite residue.

Red Sand Case Study
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  We commissioned a process that uses naturally occurring microbes to eat oxalate, which is an unwanted impurity in the alumina refining process.

Oxalate Case Study
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  We developed a novel ecological water treatment (NEWT) system that uses bauxite residue for wastewater polishing, eliminates chlorine, and reduces water use by 8%, energy use by 40%, and operating costs by 60%.

NEWT Case Study
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    Other Case Studies
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Develop a Global Partnership for Development In 2010, Alcoa Foundation contributed US$70,000 for capacity-building for non-governmental organizations in Sao Luis, Brazil and community problem-solving for organizations in Escobedo, Mexico. Alcoa Foundation
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