Sparking Climate Action With Earth Month Lightning Talks

In the age of rapidly advancing technology and global connectivity, it’s essential to recognize the impact of our actions on the planet. As industries evolve, so must our commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. In this spirit, the Climate Equity and Social Impact (CESI) working group, part of the SEMI Sustainability Initiative, last month hosted the semiconductor industry’s first webinar devoted to employee-driven sustainability projects.

The event, held on April 19^th during Earth Month, drew nearly 200 attendees to listen to speakers from seven CESI member companies – Advantest, ASML, DuPont, Entegris, Lam Research, NXP, Tokyo Electron – deliver Lightning Talks. During the brief, dynamic presentations, speakers shared insights on the power of bottom-up initiatives, sparking meaningful discussions and inspiring action. After listening to the presentations, several Axcelis employees decided to create an employee group. Congratulations! For more details, view the recording from the event.

A key theme of the Lightning Talks was the importance of embracing community-enabled climate actions. Speakers highlighted opportunities available to all chip industry employees, ranging from neighborhood clean-ups and joint gardening to partnerships with local charities and bicycle commuting promotions. Every company brought its own approach to raising environmental awareness and encouraging joint action. For example, ASML and Lam Research co-sponsored a virtual event last October on children’s environmental health.

Another significant topic of discussion was the role of employees in improving the environmental friendliness of their companies’ products. It is clear that many employees are willing to go above and beyond to understand the environmental challenges the semiconductor industry is facing and search for ways to support corporate efforts in making our supply chain greener. All speakers expressed interest in sharing industry best practices and sparking further action among SEMI member companies.

To further the event’s impact, several CESI organizing companies and SEMI funded trees in the SEMI Forest for every attendee who joined the webinar. To date, more than 1,525 trees have been planted in recognition of the combined efforts at the webinar.

CESI is looking to work with companies at any stage of their environmental volunteering journey, from those considering starting a new sustainability group all the way to organizations leading a thousand-plus vibrant global community. For this reason, we invite all interested employees at SEMI member companies to join CESI, attend our biweekly meetings, and stay tuned for future events, such as the employee group formation workshop in June and our planned activities at SEMICON West in July. Together, we can harness the power of innovation and collaboration to spark meaningful change and build a more resilient and sustainable world.