Environmental Responsibility

As part of our commitment to environmental management, more than 50 of our sites operate under ISO 14001, a voluntary certification of international standards that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system (EMS). 

Our approach to protecting the environment is built around these objectives:

• Operate our facilities in compliance with applicable laws and regulations in order to protect the health and safety of our employees, surrounding communities and the environment

• Reduce carbon emissions

• Reuse, recycle and minimize the use of natural resources

• Reduce solid waste from our manufacturing processes

• Integrate environmental considerations into business planning and decisions, including design, procurement, production, facilities management and product support 

• Work with our customers to meet their environmental needs and goals, and manage suppliers in a way that is consistent with our environmental compliance and management programs

• Maintain a management system for environmental, health and safety matters at each business unit that is designed to voluntarily meet internationally accepted standards.

Strategy. We identify and mitigate environmental risks within our existing risk management process and promote continuous improvement across our global operations. We look for opportunities to create efficiencies, develop sustainable products and services, and invest in technologies that aim to reduce the carbon footprint of our business and our customers. Our decentralized business model and diverse lines of business across multiple states and countries enable each business to develop its own set of operating objectives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions tailored to their individual circumstances. We strive to offer transparency about our environmental impact as well as our actions to lessen that impact. We publish information regarding sustainability performance, governance and management of environmental risks and opportunities on our website. 

Governance. Our board focuses its oversight on material risks and opportunities, including those related to sustainability matters. The board's Sustainability Committee provides oversight of corporate sustainability management and practices, including those related to the environment. Management is accountable to the board and incorporates economic and environmental considerations in its decision-making to support the company’s operational strategy. The CEO receives regular and ad hoc reports from the business unit presidents, who in turn have responsibility for monitoring and mitigating risks within their business units. 

Managing Climate Risk. We manage environmental risks within our comprehensive risk management process, led by senior management and overseen by the board. The board focuses on the most significant and emerging risks facing the company, including environmental risks that could have a substantive financial or strategic impact. Under our comprehensive framework, senior management, including business unit leadership, is responsible for day-to-day risk management since they are best positioned to understand their local meteorological and environmental risks. The CEO and senior management team keep the board and its committees informed throughout the year, as needed, on specific risks facing the company, including environmental risks. We consider severe weather events and sea level rise within our risk management process. For example, each of our shipyards monitor and prepare for potential flooding from natural disasters. Select environmental risks and opportunities are detailed in our TCFD report, which is available on our website. 

Progress Toward Our Target. We have a companywide target of reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 40% by 2034, from a 2019 base year. The target was developed using standards articulated by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and is aligned with efforts to limit global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius. 

Our strategy to achieve our emissions reduction target is aligned with our decentralized business model. We leverage each business’ knowledge of its market, customer base and supply chain. Accordingly, each business unit follows its own emissions reduction path that aligns with the overall companywide target. Each business unit's approach is tailored to the specific operational needs and customer demands of its business. These pathways consist of initiatives such as energy efficiency projects, procuring renewable energy and fuel switching, among others. 

As a government contractor, our ability to meet our emissions targets depends in part on our customers’ conduct and direction. For example, some of our contracts specify the manner, means or place of performance in ways that constrain our ability to reduce GHG emissions associated with contract performance. In other instances, we perform work at government-owned facilities, where emissions may be attributable to us under disclosure protocols but where we have limited or no ability to change relevant aspects of the facility.

We regularly assess our progress in reducing GHG emissions and evaluate our emissions reduction target to consider whether it remains the most effective measure of our performance. Factors such as organic business growth, the increasingly complex global threat environment, and changes in the renewable energy market, among others, influence our progress. Our ongoing assessments aim to ensure that our climate goals remain ambitious yet achievable, adapting to both internal and external changes.

Decreasing Carbon Intensity 

Since our 2019 baseline, emissions per dollar of revenue have reached an all-time low. Overall, we have achieved a 32% reduction in carbon intensity. Year over year, we decreased our carbon intensity by 4.4%, even while increasing our manufacturing capacity.

This trend indicates that our business operations continue to become more efficient over time, even as our business is growing. These efficiencies are realized through activities such as switching fuel sources, increasing efficiencies in our manufacturing process, investing in more efficient equipment and utilizing renewable certificates.

Because we are a government contractor, many Scope 3 emissions attributable to our company under relevant protocols, both upstream and downstream, are driven by policy choices made by our government customers. For example, armored fighting vehicles, which are built to specifications meant to ensure they function as intended on the battlefield, have emission consequences that are outside of our control. Similarly, government procurement requirements often prescribe specific attributes for the supply chain — such as participation of small business, country of origin and other requirements — that have consequences for GHG emissions from our supply base. For reasons such as these, we are currently unable to accurately measure or set a target for indirect emissions across our entire value chain.

Where feasible, we apply our established continuous improvement process to reducing Scope 3 emissions. Most notable are our efforts to reduce emissions throughout the lifecycle of the business jets we manufacture, with five clean-sheet aircraft models introduced over the past seven years. We do this by focusing our research and development efforts on achieving better efficiency and fuel performance, working to have our aircraft use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in their operations, and making carbon offsets and book-and-claim services available to our customers. Gulfstream's next-generation fleet of aircraft offers fuel-efficiency gains as much as 33% over predecessor models. 

At multiple sites across the company, employees are offered the opportunity to participate in alternative transportation incentive programs that offer public transportation pass discounts and fuel cost subsidies for vanpool participants. Many sites offer bike parking accommodations and electric vehicle charging stations as well.   

Many of our BUs have codes of conduct for suppliers that specify environmental standards, among other criteria. For example, Gulfstream’s supplier code of conduct requires suppliers to comply with all national and local environmental laws related to emissions, waste, water use and wastewater.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

We are a leader in expanding the use and availability of SAF in business aviation.

SAF is a low-carbon fuel blend made from renewable feedstock and petroleum-based Jet A fuel, with less sulfur and fewer fine particle pollutants than traditional Jet A. Both Gulfstream and Jet Aviation have made SAF an integral part of their emissions reduction strategy. On a gallon-for-gallon basis across the lifecycle, SAF can achieve up to an 80% reduction in CO₂ emissions relative to petroleum Jet A. That lifecycle includes feedstock growth, collection, transportation, production and fuel burn. The renewable fuel meets the sustainability requirements of both the U.S. EPA and the internationally recognized Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB).

Jet Aviation has led the services market in offering access to SAF for operators of Gulfstream and other business jets. It was the first supplier to offer SAF via a blended fuel option at Van Nuys Airport in 2019 and the first to offer SAF for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2020. The company supplied SAF to WEF attendees again in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Jet Aviation also provides SAF at its Scottsdale, Arizona; Van Nuys, California; Palm Beach, Florida; Bedford, Massachusetts; Bozeman, Montana; Teterboro, New Jersey; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Amsterdam and Rotterdam The Hague, Netherlands; Basel, Switzerland; and Singapore facilities. Since 2019, Jet Aviation has uplifted approximately 13 million gallons of blended SAF to customers.

Jet Aviation also offers a “Book & Claim” program that broadens access to SAF while avoiding the need to transport it physically. Customers worldwide can place orders for SAF, after which the volume is tracked and verified, and a certificate of credit for carbon reduction is issued. This promotes production and future availability of SAF for any customer at any time, even in locations where SAF is not yet available.

Both Gulfstream and Jet Aviation are signatories to the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow 2030 Ambition Statement. Among the program’s aims are accelerating the supply and availability of SAF so it can reach 10% of the global jet aviation fuel supply by 2030.

Gulfstream and Jet Aviation collaborate with many associations to advance the aviation industry’s goal of achieving net-zero by 2050. We are a member of more than 13 industry associations and initiatives, including the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and the International Aerospace Environmental Group (IAEG), among others.