Establishing consensus areas of focus to guide AEM’s near-term efforts and activities related to sustainability drove discussions between representatives of AEM’s Sustainability Council during last week’s in-person meeting held in Nashville.
Led by Kirsten Mauritzson, senior sustainability manager for AEM member company Caterpillar, the meeting provided council members with a chance to provide input and direction on AEM’s sustainability activities and help the association chart a course for advancing industry action, adoption, and education in the equipment manufacturing industry.
Key agenda items covered during the most recent meeting of the AEM Sustainability Council included:
- An overview of AEM’s 2025-2027 Strategic Plan and group discussion on priorities and next steps for the council and AEM’s sustainability efforts
- Detailed updates from AEM staff tasked with leading the three existing AEM Sustainability workstreams: Building Industry Alignment, Powering Positive Sustainability Perception, and Growing Supply Chain Success
- Guest presentations on Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) benchmarking (from Doug Parker, co-founder and CEO of ESG data intelligence and advisory company Ecolumix) and the collaborative work being done by companies in the automotive value chain to advance sustainability-related projects in the automotive industry (from Kellen Mahoney, executive director at business management consultant Suppliers Partnership for the Environment)
Ultimately, the group discussion on next steps for the council and AEM’s sustainability efforts led to the approval of the following areas of focus for AEM’s three designated workstreams in 2025:
- Building Industry Alignment – The workstream will continue to prioritize compliance, increase its communication efforts, and seek out new opportunities to develop agreed-upon industry positions on sustainability-related topics.
- Powering Positive Sustainability Perception – The workstream will support existing and new efforts from AEM to educate the industry on sustainability-related topics, as well as investigate new mediums and channels for spreading the message of sustainability to the AEM membership and beyond.
- Growing Supply Chain Success – The workstream will prioritize supplier education and enablement, and it will work to align itself with work being done in other industries.
The next meeting of the AEM Sustainability Council is set to be held virtually in Q3 of 2025. For more information on the council, or AEM’s sustainability work, contact AEM’s John Somers at jsomers@aem.org.
Learn More
Sustainability is everyone’s business. Whether it is through minimizing operational impact on the environment, aligning with ever-evolving regulations, or supporting a more sustainable world, the equipment manufacturing industry’s future depends on the responsible use of natural resources. Visit aem.org/sustainability for more information and insights.
