With environmental sustainability rapidly becoming a priority for the electronics industry, companies across the value chain and in industries enabled by semiconductors are recognizing the urgent need for heightened collaboration and transparency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
To help raise awareness of climate change challenges and accelerate the electronics industry push to decarbonize, SEMI formed the Sustainability Advisory Council (SAC), introduced at the Sustainability Summit at SEMICON West 2022 Hybrid in July. The group consists of more than 35 semiconductor industry companies from across the value chain that are collaborating in the new SAC Climate Working Group to organize the Semiconductor Climate Consortium that homes in on the industry's net zero strategy to decarbonize.
SEMI will facilitate collaboration of the Consortium and invites members and other companies from across the entire semiconductor industry value chain – including chipmakers, equipment suppliers, materials suppliers, OSATs, and ICT providers – to participate.
The Working Group aims to formalize the Consortium and announce commitments from participants before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27), November 6-18, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The initial deadline for signing up as a Consortium participant is October 21, 2022.
“Collaboration is vital to maximizing our industry’s progress and positive impact toward saving our planet,” said John Golightly, Sr. Director of Sustainability and Global Environment, Health and Safety at ASM International, and chair of the SAC Climate Working Group.
“The Consortium will leverage the scale, speed, and collaboration power of the semiconductor value chain to substantively address the climate crisis,” said Mousumi Bhat, vice president of Sustainability at SEMI.
The SAC Climate Working Group is now defining key focus areas of industry-wide sustainability and deliverables for the Consortium to help unite the industry. Initial topics include energy sourcing, regulatory matters, improved communications between semiconductor equipment to drive new manufacturing efficiencies, and support for and engagement with sustainability start-ups.
For details on joining the SAC Climate Working Group, please contact James Amano at jamano@semi.org.
James Amano is Sr. Director of Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability at SEMI.