February 26, 2019 -- Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today reported further progress in its sustainability performance in 2018 with a significant reduction of its carbon footprint by 10% compared to 2017, driven by a 53% decrease in total CO2 emissions from Philips’ own manufacturing operations. The Philips 2018 sustainability update is an integral part of the Philips Annual Report 2018.

At the UN Climate Change Conference COP21 in 2015, Philips pledged to play its part in fighting climate change, “the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century” according to Dr. Margaret Chan, Former Director of the World Health Organization. The company committed to becoming fully carbon neutral in its own operations, and to sourcing all its electricity usage from 100% renewable sources by 2020. Delivering on that commitment, in 2018 the company increased its global renewable electricity share to 90% from 79% in 2017. All Philips’ US operations were powered by renewable electricity from the Los Mirasoles windfarm in 2018. In addition, the Krammer and Bouwdokken windfarms in the Dutch province of Zeeland, with whom the company closed long-term contracts through its renewable electricity purchasing consortium with AkzoNobel, DSM and Google, have started powering all Philips’ operations in the Netherlands. Combined with the Los Mirasoles windfarm this covers more than half of the company’s total electricity demand.

“With our 5-year sustainability program ‘Healthy people, Sustainable planet’ we continue to deliver on our commitment to create value for our customers though sustainable solutions, leading by example in our sustainable operations, and driving sustainability through our supply chain,” said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips. “I am proud that our drive for innovation is having an impact on making the world healthier and more sustainable, and I am convinced that it will increasingly do so in the future”.

Aligned with the United Nations Development Goals, Philips’ Healthy people, Sustainable planet program involves three focal areas: access to care for the underserved (SDG3), sustainable use of materials (circular economy and eco-design) (SDG12) and sustainable use of energy (energy and emission reduction and renewable energy) (SDG13).

Philips’ 2018 highlights for these streams include:

· Two new Philips’ Community Life Centers (CLCs) were opened in South Africa. CLCs provide quality care at primary care level, addressing all healthcare needs, including mother and child care and non-communicable disease (NCD) care.

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