Reporting Process

GE’s approach to citizenship is a full-time commitment with the same goals, strategies and accountabilities that drive business. Our annual Citizenship Report complements our Annual Report, as well as the reports on our ecomagination and healthymagination strategies.

In this year’s report we have sought not only to respond to stakeholders who want to know what GE is doing on particular issues, but also to demonstrate to our employees, shareowners, business partners and others in society how helping to solve global challenges is core to GE’s sustainable growth strategy.

The report traces the source of GE’s long-term value creation, starting with how we understand global challenges, to our strategy to respond to them as a business—in particular in the areas of energy and climate and sustainable healthcare—to the processes, actions, commitments and metrics by which we manage and demonstrate performance and risk. It ends with an essay discussing how these impacts translate into financial performance.

Each year, as our approach to corporate citizenship evolves, we aim to determine and clarify the scope of GE’s material impacts. Our citizenship and reporting priorities are informed by broad engagement with stakeholders across the GE businesses and the communities where we work. This year we have taken a 10-year retrospective, drawing on perspectives from our expert advisory panel and other thought leaders. These external perspectives are complemented by the perspectives of GE CEO Jeff Immelt, Board Member Sam Nunn, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Brackett Denniston, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship Bob Corcoran and CEO of GE India John Flannery.

A 52-page report, however, can only provide a high-level summary and introduction to the issues that GE faces, our principles, strategy and performance. Our Citizenship Web site gives a fuller picture—it includes performance data, stakeholder perspectives, case studies and country fact sheets, which provide further detail on how our citizenship priorities are put into practice around the world. The site is more interactive than ever before and we will continue to update this information throughout the year, to support our ongoing discussion with stakeholders.

To assist in navigating the Web site, this report highlights links to relevant additional information on the Web site including case studies, interviews and videos on key challenges, dilemmas and opportunities. We also include interviews and articles by employees, customers and external experts. These perspectives are unedited by GE.

This report is produced for the benefit of all stakeholders, including GE employees—the people whose actions define GE every day. We hope that readers will make use of the information and perspectives, and see them as an invitation to further dialogue with GE. We will continue to engage in these constructive discussions and seek to adapt and develop solutions based on what we learn in order to contribute to, and succeed in, sustainable growth and value creation.

Reporting Principles & Framework

Scope of Report

The latest report, published in July 2011, covers GE’s worldwide operations for the 2010 fiscal year, unless otherwise stated. Our last report was released in July 2010. The 2010 Sustainable Growth report is GE’s seventh citizenship report.