Integrating sustainability into what we do

How we achieve our strategic priorities is as important as the results. Our directors, officers, and employees are expected to observe the highest standards of integrity.

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Leadership, performance and application

Our Standards of Business Conduct

Our Standards of Business Conduct include what we call “foundation policies” defining the basis of our conduct worldwide. The Board of Directors has adopted and oversees the administration of the Standards, and no one at ExxonMobil can make exceptions or grant waivers to these policies.

Our foundation policies cover aspects of the environment, health, safety, product safety, customer relations, equal employment opportunity, harassment in the workplace, and more. They also define ethical conduct for our company, which includes our values on important matters like human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption.

Our Standards of Business Conduct are a key part of onboarding new employees, and they are reinforced with employees annually. Wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries of Exxon Mobil Corporation generally adopt policies similar to our corporate standards.

Our directors, officers, and employees are required to review these policies annually and apply them in their work. Employees are regularly required to complete business practices training. And, of course, we require all employees, officers, directors, and those working on our behalf to comply with all applicable laws.

Employees in relevant job functions receive training on antitrust, anti-corruption, and trade laws (including anti-boycott, trade sanctions, and export controls topics) on an annual or biennial basis. ExxonMobil-specific and other relevant training is shared with contractors if required to perform contracted services. In 2024, more than 17,500 employees and contractors participated in relevant training.

Corporate governance

Our Board of Directors oversees our strategy, providing strong corporate governance and guidance to management.


We are ExxonMobil
leadership culture

The strength of our culture is foundational to our success. The We are ExxonMobil culture framework encompasses our core values and leadership expectations. This framework also outlines key behavioral skills that apply to all employees.

Our culture is built on a strong focus on leadership and key talent systems, including performance assessments, on-the-job experience, and formal training. Through our partnership with the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina, our leadership programs are designed to help our leaders connect We are ExxonMobil with our strategic priorities and unlock the collective potential of our employees. Nearly half of eligible leaders have participated, with more to come.

ExxonMobil’s core values

Core values

Integrity is first among our core values for a reason. It underpins our dedication to uphold the highest ethical standards and to do what’s right in all aspects of our business.

We encourage employees and contractors to ask questions and voice concerns, and we insist that alleged violations of company policies be reported. Our open-door communication procedures provide formal and informal mechanisms for employee feedback, including both a mailing address and 24-hour hotline for anonymous reports, among other options. Maintaining confidentiality to the extent possible is critical, and we have protections in place to prevent retaliation. In addition, our supplier communications letter provides mechanisms, including phone numbers by region, for feedback from suppliers.

A quarterly summary of reports of suspected violations of the Company’s policies is provided to the Board’s Audit Committee. This committee consists of four independent (i.e., non-employee) directors who help the Board in overseeing financial reporting, accounting, and internal controls. This includes legal and regulatory compliance, as well as compliance with company policy. Confirmed violations can lead to disciplinary actions, up to and including termination.

Regular internal audits and self-assessments help us verify the strength of our control systems and adherence to our Standards of Business Conduct. Our team of internal auditors has access to all operations, records, personnel, and properties. They review our activities and processes on an ongoing basis, and suspected noncompliance is investigated.

 Additional resources


Our sustainability focus areas

Our 14 Sustainability Focus Areas were developed by analyzing our environmental and social impacts, business strategies, current events, and internal and external stakeholders’ priorities. We believe these focus areas are most important to both our company and society. We develop strategies, allocate resources, and execute plans to address risks and opportunities within each of them.

Focus areas

Topic selection process

The findings of our topic selection process inform the development of this Sustainability Report.

Ipieca is the “global oil and gas association for advancing environmental and social performance across the energy transition.”1 It refers to important topics as those that, in the view of a company’s management and external parties, have the potential to significantly affect a company’s sustainability performance and stakeholder awareness, assessments, or decisions.2 

In 2024, we engaged a third party to refresh our topic selection in line with the Sustainability Reporting Guidance for the Oil and Gas Industry (4th edition, 2020, revised February 2023) developed by Ipieca, the American Petroleum Institute, and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers, reaffirming the importance of the topics discussed in this report.

To select our topics, we also analyze peer and industry reporting, regulations, and media to gain data-driven insights into strategic, regulatory, and reputational risks and opportunities. Inputs include:

  • Peer benchmarking
  • Review of leading sustainability frameworks – including those published by the Global Reporting Initiative, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and Ipieca
  • Regulatory guidance
  • Third-party research
  • Internal and external stakeholder engagement

Our Global Operations and Sustainability leadership reviews and validates the results of this topic selection process.

Global operations

Supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve progress on global economic, social, and environmental challenges. The goals are directed at governments, but the private sector and civil society play an important role in supporting national plans. We support governments’ efforts to meet the SDGs.

For example, our corporate strategy directly supports progress toward SDG 7, “Affordable and Clean Energy.” To meet the UN’s goal to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere,” providing for basic energy needs is a must. As described in our Global Outlook, about 4 billion around the world live below what we call the “modern energy minimum” of 50 million British thermal units per capita per year. When a nation meets the modern energy minimum, it can:

  • Provide universal access to clean cooking.
  • Provide universal access to electricity.
  • Eliminate abject poverty.

As we continue to help supply the energy products the world needs, we also support progress toward SDG 13, “Climate Action.” Reducing emissions is the other half of our “and” equation. We’re pursuing up to $30 billion in lower-emission investments from 2025 through 2030 – with about 65% focused on reducing emissions for third parties.3 This investment also supports our 2030 greenhouse gas emission-reduction plans.4

SDG icons 7,12 and 13

ExxonMobil Product Solutions supports progress toward SDG 12, ”Responsible Consumption and Production” by providing the plastics that make modern life possible. Our customers use our materials for applications in healthcare and medical equipment, agriculture, food and beverage, and other critical areas. We are advancing infrastructure and technology for collecting, sorting, and processing discarded plastics. In 2024, we announced a $200 million investment to expand our advanced recycling capacity to 500 million pounds – that’s the weight of about 25 Eiffel Towers. Advanced recycling allows for a substantially broader range of plastic waste to be recycled back into high-value raw materials versus conventional recycling.

Communicating progress

Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Limited provided reasonable-level assurance for the processes we used to report on Ipieca’s core elements of safety, health and environment in our Sustainability Report.

In addition to our Sustainability Report, we publish comprehensive reports to provide insight into how we create value through our integrated businesses and how we manage associated risks, opportunities, and impacts.

Our systems, expectations, and standards

We have built an organizational and governance structure around our focus areas to ensure top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top alignment. Our objectives and strategies ensure a consistent approach across the company, while empowering our business lines to take action and advance our sustainability priorities.

Across our global operations, we apply rigorous management systems to identify, track, and report performance metrics. These systems help us comply with applicable laws and regulations and provide a framework for maintaining high standards, even where laws or regulations don’t exist.

Our Operations Integrity Management System (OIMS) establishes expectations, protocols, and guidance that apply across all our operations to address risks inherent to our business, including environmental risks.

Each element of OIMS contains overarching objectives, specific expectations, and detailed processes for implementation. The OIMS framework is applied across ExxonMobil, and we monitor the performance of our operated and non-operated assets (e.g., joint ventures) against OIMS expectations.

Operations graphic

Key systems and standards include:

  • Controls Integrity Management System (CIMS): The CIMS is used to assess and measure financial control risks, identify mitigation procedures, monitor compliance with standards, and report results.
  • Environmental Aspects Guide (EAG): This guide establishes a consistent approach to identify, evaluate, and assess environmental and socioeconomic risks.
  • Environmental Business Plans: These plans address environmental objectives as part of the annual business cycle using a corporate-wide framework.
  • Environmental Data Management System (EDMS): The EDMS is used to collect, collate, and consolidate site-level data at the corporate level to help manage environmental performance indicators globally.
  • Environmental, Socioeconomic, and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA): These assessments enable us to identify and analyze key environmental, socioeconomic, and health risks and to develop management strategies throughout an asset’s life cycle.
  • ExxonMobil Capital Projects Management System (EMCAPS): EMCAPS provides a framework for project development and execution and helps account for environmental and socioeconomic concerns, as well as regulatory requirements.
  • Global Energy Management System: This system identifies opportunities to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity in downstream and chemical operations.
  • IMPACT: This corporate-wide database captures and analyzes safety and environmental data on incidents, near-misses, observations, assessment findings, lessons learned, and follow-up activities.
  • National Content Guidelines, Strategies, and Best Practices: This document outlines the key elements of our national content strategy and plan, models and tools for the successful development of national content, and roles and responsibilities at the corporate, country, and project levels.
  • Product Stewardship Information Management System (PSIMS): This system applies common global processes and a global computer system to capture and communicate information on the safe handling, transport, use, and disposal of our products.
  • Project Environmental Standards (PES): These standards identify applicable company environmental and socioeconomic standards for affected new projects.
  • Technology Management System: This system includes processes for technology investments that follow a gated management system from early technical innovation to final deployment.
 Additional resource

Stakeholder engagement

We work to foster mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation with many different stakeholder groups. Through open dialogue, we’re able to gather feedback, hear concerns, discuss approaches, share our plans, and tailor our approach to best understand and address individual perspectives and needs.

Stakeholder groups include:

  • Shareholders
  • Governments
  • Communities
  • Customers
  • Employees
  • Suppliers
  • Academia 
  • Nongovernmental organizations
  • Trade associations and industry groups

Engagement methods include:

  • Community meetings
  • Open-door communications
  • Digital and social media
  • Corporate publications
  • Direct mail communications
  • Participation in local organizations, trade associations, and other groups
  • One-on-one or group discussions

Two-way engagement topics include:

  • Technical aspects of projects
  • Community benefits and opportunities
  • Potential impacts to the environment and community
  • Local concerns
  • Public policy development
  • Project development progress
  • Market-based approaches to sustainability matters
  • Policy insights
  • Safety, environmental, and human rights practices

Engaging with shareholders

Ongoing engagement with our shareholders is vitally important as we seek to understand their diverse perspectives and keep them informed about our business. We engage with shareholders and their representatives on a range of issues throughout the year.

 

2024 engagement highlights

Engagement highlights

In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee has procedures for shareholders and others to reach out to Board members. Individuals can email our non-employee directors through our website. All communications are recorded by an assistant secretary or designated staff member and forwarded to the appropriate director or directors, or otherwise handled as the Committee directs.

Our engagements can often address areas of interest without the need for formal shareholder proposals. Each year, shareholders or their proxies submit proposals as allowed by SEC Rule 14a-8. Company management and the Board consider each proposal, and the company seeks a dialogue with the proposal sponsor.

At the 2024 annual meeting, shareholders owning more than 3.3 billion outstanding shares, or approximately 84%, were represented. In 2024, shareholders voted on 7 issues, including 4 shareholder proposals. More information on the voting outcomes can be found in the 2024 proxy voting results.

Corporate governance
2024 Proxy Statement
2024 Proxy Results

Engaging with governments

Policy decisions made at all levels of government can affect our operations, now and in the future. We actively participate in discussions around the world to support policies that promote economic growth, stable investment for long-term business viability, energy security, and the development and acceleration of lower-emission solutions.

We focus on rational and constructive policy that reflects the “and” equation – growing the supply of affordable and reliable energy products that improve living standards around the world and supporting scalable development and deployment of lower- and zero-greenhouse gas emission technologies.

Such policies can further encourage investments in lower-emission technologies to advance the energy transition at the lowest cost to society.

ExxonMobil’s positions on climate, including its 2030 greenhouse gas emission-reduction plans5, are available on our website and in our Advancing Climate Solutions Report, along with our annual proxy statement, press releases, and the Exxchange, our online advocacy hub. Our lobbying and political contributions are aligned with these positions.

Positions and principles
Advocacy Report
Advancing Climate Solutions Report
Proxy Statement
Press releases
Exxchange

U.S. lobbying expenses

ExxonMobil undertakes lobbying to advocate for our positions on issues that affect our company, the energy industry, and overall competitive free markets. We have a responsibility to our shareholders, employees, customers, and communities to represent their interests in public policy discussions that are related to our industry and impact our business.

We have a rigorous process to determine which public policy issues are important to the company. This process includes soliciting input from internal business lines, Low Carbon Solutions, Upstream, and Product Solutions, as well as corporate departments including strategic planning, human resources, law, tax, and public and government affairs. We also engage with a wide range of third parties – both individuals and organizations – to ensure external perspectives are considered.

Our Advocacy Report provides additional detail of our direct and indirect climate-related lobbying activities at the federal, state and local level, as well as our grassroots lobbying communications. In addition, the report provides all lobbying expenses that have been reported to us by all 501(c)(6) and 501(c)(4) organizations that we support. This includes more than 100 organizations and 100% of the lobbying expenses incurred, as well as the issues lobbied. It also provides an assessment of ExxonMobil and its affiliates’ climate-related lobbying activities in relevant trade associations.

We fully comply with federal and state regulations by reporting federal lobbying to the U.S. Congress and state-level lobbying to appropriate entities, as required. We also publicly report, on a quarterly basis, our federal lobbying expenses and the specific issues lobbied. The total figure reported in our public Lobbying Disclosure Act filings includes expenses associated with the costs of employee federal lobbying, as well as those portions of payments to trade associations, coalitions, and think tanks spent on federal lobbying.

This process, along with the oversight of our lobbying and political engagement, can be found on our website.

Advocacy Report

Political contributions

The Board of Directors has authorized ExxonMobil to make political contributions to candidate committees and other political organizations as permitted by applicable laws. The Board annually reviews our political contributions, as well as contributions from the company-sponsored Political Action Committee (PAC). Internal audits of the corporation’s public and government affairs activities routinely verify contribution amounts.

As a U.S. federal contractor, ExxonMobil has not used corporate treasury funds to support any federal candidates, national political parties, or other political committees, including Super Political Action Committees. ExxonMobil has chosen not to use treasury funds or PAC funds for direct independent political expenditures at the federal level, including electioneering communications.6

Eligible employees and shareholders may participate in the U.S. political process by contributing to a voluntary, company-sponsored, federal PAC. ExxonMobil reports PAC contributions to the U.S. Federal Election Commission every month.

Political contributions

Transparency in payments to governments

We believe that disclosing relevant payments to governments is an important tool to reduce corruption, improve government accountability, and promote greater economic stability worldwide. We consider the most successful transparency initiatives to be those that:

  • Apply to all foreign, domestic, and state-owned companies.
  • Protect proprietary information to promote commercial competitiveness.
  • Comply with international trade conventions and treaties.
  • Do not violate host government laws or contractual obligations.

Our approach to tax


    Publications

    Explore more

    Expanding the plastics life cycle

    Expanding the plastics life cycle

    Working with suppliers

    Working with suppliers

    Cold Lake, Nabiye

    Enhancing process safety

    Improving air quality

    Improving air quality

    Water with bridge

    Sustainability Report Executive Summary

    Men working in a recycling facility

    Minimizing operational waste


    FOOTNOTES:

    1. https://www.ipieca.org
    2. Sustainability Reporting Guidance for the Oil and Gas Industry (4th edition, 2020, revised February 2023) developed by Ipieca, the American Petroleum Institute, and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers.
    3. Lower emissions cash capex includes cash capex attributable to carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, lithium, biofuels, Proxxima™ systems, carbon materials, and activities to lower ExxonMobil’s emissions and/or third party (3P) emissions. Planned spend is from 2025-2030.
    4. ExxonMobil 2030 GHG emission-reduction plans are intensity-based and for Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions from operated assets compared to 2016 levels. For more information, see our Advancing Climate Solutions report.
    5. ExxonMobil 2030 GHG emission-reduction plans are intensity-based and for Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions from operated assets compared to 2016 levels.
    6. Electioneering communication is the standard terminology used by the Federal Election Committee and also used in our Advocacy Report. It includes any communication that refers to a clearly identified federal candidate, is publicly distributed within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election and is targeted to the relevant electorate.