environment

ExxonMobil is committed to more than just meeting the world’s growing demand for energy; we are committed to being good stewards of the environment.  This commitment is reflected in our daily business practice as well as in the environmentally focused community investments that we make around the globe.

In 2007, environmental contributions totaled more than $6.6 million, with more than $4.3 million supporting programs and communities abroad.  Our investments focus on a few critical areas: biodiversity conservation in a range of ecosystems, environmental education, and scientific research of environmental issues of global importance.  Increasingly, we are focused on building capacity in local communities to maintain and protect the health of our natural environments.

2007 marked the 12^th anniversary of ExxonMobil Foundation’s establishment of the Save the Tiger Fund (STF) with NGO partner National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.  Last year, we supported STF with ongoing management support and $1.2M.  Over the last 12 years, ExxonMobil has contributed more than $15M to tiger conservation efforts, making ours the largest corporate commitment ever to save a species.  With facilitating partners like World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, Conservation International, WildAid, Fauna and Flora International and local, grassroots NGOS, our investments reach well beyond tigers.  Conserving wild tiger populations means fostering cooperation among government agencies, business and civil society, and building capacity for local solutions management.  Protecting and restoring tiger habitats means investing in major Asian river systems that provide a mode of transport and drinking water to millions.  It also means protecting 6.3 million acres of vegetated and forested land critical to carbon storage. 

Like conservation, environmental education has the potential to have impacts that are broad and contribute to long term, sustainable solutions.  In Brazil, the Esso-Mamirauá Environmental Education Program is promoting environmental awareness in this fragile ecosystem.  Esso’s investments support 20 rural schools located in the Mamirauá Reserve, providing public school teachers with environmental and natural resource management education materials.  At the same time, this program is developing environmental ambassadors in communities who can share information and lead local efforts in environmental protection.

ExxonMobil also recognizes the connection between economic and environmental welfare.  In Equatorial Guinea, we support the Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program, a partnership between Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA and the Universidad Nacional de Guinea Equatorial.  In 2007, we provided $197,000 to a program that develops the skills of local bioscientists, maintains a research center in Equatorial Guinea, and employs local villagers in wildlife patrol and data collection.  Through the activities of this program, locals are engaged in responsibly stewarding their own natural environment while building intellectual capital and laying the groundwork for a viable ecotourism sector.

Our environmental investments are an important part of who we are not just overseas, but at home in the United States as well.  With partners like The Nature Conservancy, Land Trust Alliance, Ducks Unlimited, the Resources First Foundation and the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), we are supporting conservation of marine and terrestrial areas across the States. 

As with STF, ExxonMobil is a founding member of WHC whose core mission is to bring business and conservation together.   In 2007, we continued our support for this organization as well as its Corporate Lands for Learning program designed to encourage WHC certified private lands to become conservation learning centers for their local communities.  Leading by example, five of ExxonMobil’s business properties are certified WHC sites, providing habitat for wildlife in Montana, Wyoming, Texas and New Jersey.