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As an energy company that operates in more than 180 countries, ChevronTexaco is accountable to a wide range of stakeholders: investors and employees, business partners and host governments, and customers and local communities. We know our success as a company depends not only on our financial performance but also on our ability to address the social and environmental expectations of these stakeholders. Indeed, we see corporate responsibility and business success as mutually reinforcing: Financial health is a prerequisite to our being able to continue to make a positive contribution to society, and operating in a responsible way contributes to our financial success.
This report describes the work that ChevronTexaco is doing - and has yet to do - to demonstrate responsible performance around the world. We have focused on our performance in areas that are important to our company and, we believe, to our stakeholders. We also have painted a picture of our overall approach to corporate responsibility because we believe that the way we achieve results is every bit as important as the results themselves.
Although this is our first report on corporate responsibility, the concept is not new to the more than 53,000 men and women of ChevronTexaco. You will find it reflected in The ChevronTexaco Way, which describes our company's values and guides our actions. For nearly 125 years, we have recognized the importance of treating people with respect, addressing the needs of the communities where we do business, being responsible stewards of the environment and leaving a positive legacy for future generations.
Our company's primary obligation is to produce reliable, affordable energy. In doing so, we are committed to protecting people and the environment by operating safely and efficiently, conserving natural resources and responsibly stewarding our products. We take pride in knowing that the energy we produce is a building block of economic development that helps improve standards of living around the world. Energy, quite literally, is the fuel that drives progress in countless other sectors, from transportation and commerce to health care, education and agriculture. In producing this energy, ChevronTexaco provides employment, spurs economic growth, transfers technology, and contributes to the development of the communities in which we operate.
We also operate in some of the most challenging places in the world - regions that suffer from poverty, disease, civil unrest and legacies of corruption. In some of these places, the benefits of economic development have not been distributed evenly. Because we operate there, companies like ours have an opportunity to be catalysts for positive change.
Issues related to poverty and health are of special concern to the people of ChevronTexaco. In our view, addressing these fundamental issues is a critical stepping-stone to being able to help find solutions to the range of other complex social, economic and environmental issues where we operate, from increasing revenue transparency in our industry to addressing concerns about global climate change.
We are working, consistent with our role as a company, to help ensure that our stakeholders benefit from the energy we and our partners develop. We accept that we have a role to play, but also recognize that there are some needs only governments can meet - and many needs that can be met only when all sectors work together. We know, as well, that complex problems require coordinated responses. As this report makes clear, partnership is a central element of our efforts. Just as we work with our partners to discover and develop energy, we also must work with governments, nongovernmental organizations, multilateral agencies, community groups and others in the private sector to find shared solutions to common challenges.
We recognize that corporate responsibility is not a static concept. As the world changes, our company's approach must evolve. Today, that means working to be more integrated and systematic in how we address these issues, developing new policies and programs, and finding better ways to measure our progress.
In that spirit, we will explore for new solutions every bit as determinedly as we search for new energy resources, and we commit to continually improving our performance in this important area.
Dave O'Reilly
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
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