Feb 10, 2025

UMC Recognized with Double ‘A’ score for Climate Change and Water Security Leadership in CDP A List for Three Consecutive Years

HSINCHU, Taiwan, February 10, 2025 - United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) announced today its achievement of the highest 'A' rating in both CDP's Climate Change and Water Security categories in 2024. UMC stands out as the sole semiconductor company globally to secure this double 'A' recognition for three consecutive years. This follows acknowledgement from other ESG rating agencies, including the 2024 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), which affirms UMC’s achievements in sustainability, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and water resource management.

 

TS Wu, Vice President of UMC, said, " The challenges of climate change and water resources have profound impacts on business operations and supply chains. As a leading global semiconductor foundry, despite facing severe challenges such as global economic uncertainties and geopolitical issues, we remain committed to sustainability as one of our core business strategies. We deeply integrate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles within our business operations. UMC will continue to leverage the pervasive influence of technology to drive Twin Transformation in digitalization and sustainability, advancing towards our net-zero goals and contributing to a smarter, more sustainable future for humanity.”

 

UMC has implemented energy conservation and carbon reduction initiatives since 1999. Recent highlights include:

  • In 2021, UMC pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and 100% renewable energy usage (RE100) through three key actions: persistent and proactive carbon emission reduction, 100% renewable energy usage, and investment in net-zero technologies.
  • In 2023, UMC Group achieved a 26% reduction in scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, based on 2020 levels, reaching its 2030 target ahead of schedule. To accelerate carbon reduction efforts, UMC set a more aggressive 2030 target of reducing emissions by 42%, in accordance with the SBTi net-zero standards aligned with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
  • In 2024, UMC implemented an internal carbon price of US$100 per metric ton to incentivize carbon reduction action.
  • Moving forward, the company will focus on Scope 3 carbon reduction and water resource initiatives, working closely with our value chain partners to enhance low-carbon competitiveness.

 

To facilitate its energy transition, UMC Group uses diverse renewable energy sources including self-generated power and green electricity procurement. In 2023, the renewable energy usage rate reached 11%. In 2024, this rate is expected to surpass 16%, steadily progressing towards the 2025 target of 25%. Additionally, in 2024, UMC signed a power purchase agreement for over 30 billion kWh of offshore wind power, which will significantly contribute to achieving the 2030 goal of 50% renewable energy usage.

 

In water management, UMC has received an A rating for four consecutive years. UMC proactively diversifies water sourcing, enhances water recycling rates and water efficiency, and continues to promote water-saving and recycling measures. Various recycling treatment models are established based on different water quality requirements, such as copper wastewater recycling and ammonia nitrogen wastewater recycling, continuously improving water recycling rates and reducing the environmental impact of water consumption and wastewater. In 2023, the overall reclaimed water usage rate for the company reached 23.7%, equal to 5.47 million tons of water saved. Notably, UMC's Fab 12i in Singapore was awarded the Water Efficiency Awards by the Public Utilities Board of Singapore in 2024, recognizing its outstanding performance in water resource management.

 

UMC continues to deepen its commitment to ESG, with its sustainable actions and performance repeatedly recognized by international rating agencies. The company has been selected as a component of the DJSI World Index for 17 consecutive years and has been included in the DJSI Emerging Markets Index eight times. Additionally, UMC received an AA rating in the MSCI ESG assessment and is listed in the MSCI Global ESG Leaders Index, while also being continuously included in the FTSE4Good Index and the Taiwan Sustainability Index.

 

 

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry company. The company provides high-quality IC fabrication services, focusing on logic and various specialty technologies to serve all major sectors of the electronics industry. UMC’s comprehensive IC processing technologies and manufacturing solutions include Logic/Mixed-Signal, embedded High-Voltage, embedded Non-Volatile-Memory, RFSOI, BCD etc. Most of UMC's 12-in & 8-in fabs with its core R&D are located in Taiwan, with additional ones throughout Asia. UMC has a total of 12 fabs in production with combined capacity of more than 400,000 wafers per month (12-in equivalent), and all of them are certified with IATF 16949 automotive quality standard. UMC is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, plus local offices in United States, Europe, China, Japan, Korea & Singapore, with a worldwide total of 20,000 employees. For more information, please visit: http://www.umc.com.

 

Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about introduction of new services and technologies, future outsourcing, competition, wafer capacity, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UMC’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. UMC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

 

 

UMC Corporate Communications

Michelle Yun

+886-3-578-2258 ext.16951

[email protected]

 
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