Alcon Issues First Corporate Responsibility Report as Independent Company

Alcon (SIX/NYSE:ALC), the global leader in eye care dedicated to helping people see brilliantly, today released its inaugural Corporate Responsibility (CR) report. The CR report, the Company’s first as an independent, publicly traded company, describes Alcon’s corporate responsibility strategy, and focuses on four key areas: benefitting customers and patients, caring for the environment, winning in the workplace, and working with integrity.

"Our mission of helping people see brilliantly is rooted in enabling all stakeholders to live life to the fullest, and we take our stewardship role very seriously,” said David Endicott, Chief Executive Officer, Alcon. "We are deeply committed to our customers, patients, associates and the communities where we live and work, and our inaugural report reflects that commitment and serves as the roadmap for our corporate responsibility journey.”

Highlights of the report include:

Benefitting Customers & Patients

• 58 major market product approvals in 2019
• 4,000+ doctors enrolled in Alcon’s Phaco Development program, which aims to bring cataract surgery using Alcon’s innovative technologies to underserved areas
• 400,000 patients served per year through programs supported by Alcon’s foundation, Alcon Cares, which donates equipment and products for medical missions and capacity building
• 4,000 volunteers during Alcon’s first ‘Alcon in Action’ community service day
• No FDA-initiated recalls or serious findings from regulatory authorities in the last 5 years

Caring for Our Environment

• 94% of sites certified to ISO 14001 standards
• 23 energy-saving projects completed in 2019 resulting in an estimated more than 19,000 gigajoules in savings and the avoidance of nearly 3,800 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse emissions
• 12 water-saving projects implemented in 2019 resulting in an estimated 75 megaliters in water savings

Winning in the Workplace

• A diverse workforce of more than 20,000 associates, of which approximately half are female
• In the United States, 44% of our associates have self-identified as ethnically diverse
• Safe working conditions, with 0.10 Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR)

Working with Integrity

• 98%+ completion rate for Alcon’s Code of Business Conduct training
• A Third Party Code of Conduct, covering numerous environment, social governance (ESG) topics including labor rights, health and safety, environment, animal welfare, anti-bribery and fair competition, data privacy and information protection, conflict minerals, management systems, and trade sanctions

"We’ve been actively engaged in ESG initiatives over our 70+ years in ophthalmology and optometry. While some of our ESG initiatives are more developed, others are still in early stages,” Mr. Endicott continued. "Over the course of the coming years, we will gather and benchmark data to further inform and evolve our understanding and improve of our performance in these areas in these areas.”

In 2020, the Alcon Board of Directors established the Governance and Nomination Committee to formally oversee Alcon’s ESG efforts. With oversight by the Board, Alcon also created an ESG Executive Steering Committee comprised of senior executives to identify and manage Alcon’s environmental and social impacts, as well as to develop the CR report.

Methodology

Alcon conducted a materiality assessment that identified material and relevant ESG priorities after extensive interviews with subject matter experts, business leaders and internal and external stakeholders. The CR report is aligned with the framework created by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Alcon’s CR report details the governance and management approach of these identified key areas, and provides historical data to select metrics in accordance with SASB and GRI reporting requirements.

The CR report can be found on Alcon’s investor relations site, investor.alcon.com.

About Alcon

Alcon helps people see brilliantly. As the global leader in eye care with a heritage spanning more than seven decades, we offer the broadest portfolio of products to enhance sight and improve people’s lives. Our Surgical and Vision Care products touch the lives of more than 260 million people in over 140 countries each year living with conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, retinal diseases and refractive errors. Our more than 20,000 associates are enhancing the quality of life through innovative products, partnerships with eye care professionals and programs that advance access to quality eye care. Learn more at www.alcon.com.

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