We establish and maintain productive relationships with our key stakeholder group. Below are key engagement topics from the past year.
Stakeholder Engagement
PPG Engagement Activities
Key topics raised in 2023
Industry and other associations
We actively work with the following industry associations by maintaining board and other leadership positions:
- American Chemistry Council (ACC)
- American Coatings Association (ACA)
- Ethics & Compliance Officers Association European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink and Artists' Colours Industry (CEPE) (Roald Johannsen, PPG vice president, Automotive OEM Coatings, serves as Chair until September 2024)
- Fédération des industries des peintures, encres, couleurs, colles et adhesives (FIPEC)
- The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
As members of these trade associations, PPG is an active participant in various environmental and sustainability committees within ACA and ACC. We report sustainability metrics for some PPG businesses to ACC on a regular basis. These metrics are used to validate ACC's sustainability metrics development effort under Responsible Care®, and to help the industry identify thematic risks or opportunities to consider.
In addition, we are an active participant in the RESPONSIBLE CARE® and COATINGS CARE® initiatives.
We also have employees that belong to and actively engage with the following associations, which help companies collaborate and share best practices across industries:
- The World 50 Sustainability 50
- The Conference Board
- Change Chemistry
Political Contributions
We do not make any corporate political contributions as a company to political parties or candidates.
In the United States, our employees have formed a political action committee (PAC). Under the umbrella of this independent, voluntary, registered committee, employees collect donations to politicians, political parties and associations and make decisions as to how the funds will be used. The PAC Executive Committee has broad employee representation and approves all political contributions made on behalf of the PAC. The PAC is governed by a series of internal policies and adheres to a strict set of by-laws.
In 2023, total PAC contributions totaled $179,000 to local, state and federal candidates for elected office representing the Republican and Democratic political parties.
Our PPG PAC contributions included those made to individual candidate political campaigns as well at other business PACs including our trade associations. There was no spending on ballot measures or referendums. The PPG PAC participates in political engagement on a case-by-case basis, guided by the key issues important to PPG PAC members. These issues include DE&I, energy and environment, infrastructure, regulatory reform, tax and budget, technology and trade.
Political contribution receipts and disbursements are reported in detail and disclosed publicly on the U.S. Federal Elections Commission website.
A political contributions overview and more information on political activities is provided on the PAC website and our Government Affairs website.
The largest public policy advocacy issues for the PAC in 2023 included infrastructure investment, regulatory reform, tax and trade.
Advocacy
We engage with customers, nongovernmental organizations, government agencies and other stakeholders to ensure that we understand their requirements and they, in return, understand our position and requirements for efficient and sustainable business operations. As an example, we advocate for education and availability of clean energy.
Our advocacy efforts are global and encompass regulatory matters related to environment, health, safety and product stewardship. Our Regulatory and Emerging Issues Process helps our businesses track emerging issues and identify opportunities for advocacy based on risk and financial impact. We work closely with our businesses and technical community to ensure strong two-way communications and engagement as advocacy issues develop.
The PPG Advocacy Steering Committee works to promote alignment among our businesses and to provide direction on engagement. The committee meets routinely to monitor the progress of current advocacy efforts and review new initiatives. Though there are numerous chemical specific advocacy efforts underway, the following principles are applied to keep our messaging consistent:
- Sound science
- Risk-based approach
- Practical solutions
We continue to engage with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on matters related to TSCA implementation under the Lautenberg amendments, such as workplace chemicals management and risk assessment. In Europe, we are closely following the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability under the EU Green Deal to ensure we provide comments to advocate for risk-based, sustainable solutions supported by sound science and the need for early assessment of alternatives. In other parts of the world, such as Latin America, we are advocating for a risk-based chemicals management strategy as countries prepare chemical inventories.