Speech given by Robert Olsen, chairman ExxonMobil International Limited, at the ExxonMobil-sponsored awards ceremony celebrating Year of the Volunteer

London
January 22, 2006

Baroness Scotland, Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon.

I am delighted to be here today. On behalf of ExxonMobil I would like to congratulate all the regional category champions on their success in reaching the final round. It's an excellent achievement, and you deserve a very big thank you for the fantastic work you do.

ExxonMobil is proud to be sponsoring today's celebration event. We have been a leading supporter of CSV for many years. We fully recognise the value of volunteering, and today we want to help celebrate the important work carried out by volunteers throughout the country.

Involvement with CSV

Our involvement with CSV goes back a long way. Those of you who may not be familiar with the ExxonMobil name, I'm sure, will know our Esso and Mobil company names. Well, Esso first teamed up with CSV over 20 years ago. Since then we have had a very successful partnership. We have found CSV to be professional and efficient, and have enjoyed working together on a range of projects aimed at engaging people with their communities.

We have a lot in common. CSV believes that everyone has something to give and everyone can make a difference. This is a conviction that ExxonMobil wholeheartedly shares. Our goal is to make a difference as well - strengthening local communities and focusing our community support programme on activities that can make a difference to people's lives.

As the world's leading energy company, with operations in close to 200 countries and a 120-year history, ExxonMobil has a long-standing tradition of making a positive contribution in the communities in which we operate. We have always considered this to be an important part of our responsibility as a good corporate citizen. I'm proud to say that ExxonMobil contributed over one hundred million dollars last year to community serving organisations and projects around the world.

The value of volunteering

We are used to taking on the world's toughest energy challenges, but helping to develop prosperous, sustainable communities can also be a challenge. We believe the answer is to muster all the human energy we can. We see volunteers as a key resource and essential to building sustainable communities.

We are now working on a major new initiative, the ExxonMobil Energy Challenge. CSV support will provide the cornerstone of this programme, which will focus on tackling fuel poverty by improving energy efficiency in households. There are around three million households in the UK living in fuel poverty, the majority of which are vulnerable households - those containing sick, disabled or elderly people. Our programme will seek to help as many of the vulnerable households as possible to become more energy efficient. The aim is to provide specialist training to some 100 CSV volunteers, who will then visit these households to offer practical advice on making changes to improve energy efficiency. They will also provide information on how to access further support such as government grants for improving insulation. The ability of volunteers to connect with people on a personal level will be vital to the success of this project. We believe volunteers will be able to make a real difference by helping to tackle fuel poverty at the household level.

Employee volunteering schemes

Our interest in volunteering also extends to utilising the skills of our own employees. For many years ExxonMobil has had substantial programmes in place that encourage our employees - and their families - to be active members of the communities where they live and work. Last year, over 200 charities, non-profit organisations and schools benefited from our employee Volunteer Involvement and School Governor programmes. Not only did they benefit from nearly 11,000 hours of time dedicated by our employees and their family members, but they received company grants totalling over £130,000 as well.

In addition, some 300 of our employees marked the Year of the Volunteer by taking a day out of the office to take part in an ExxonMobil Day of Caring. We organised 14 different community projects involving local charities throughout the UK. These included such activities as painting, clearing grounds, creating an outdoor seating area at a hostel, and designing and painting pictures on the wall of a children's play area.

Continued success

Our Day of Caring was so successful that we plan to repeat the activity this year, and goes to show that people will volunteer if they are made aware of the opportunities. Human energy really is a vast and largely untapped resource, and organisations such as CSV, and initiatives such as the Year of the Volunteer, are doing a wonderful job in encouraging more and more people to support their local community. ExxonMobil wishes you continued success, and salutes all volunteers for their dedication and the selfless way they donate time and energy in the service of others.

Thank you.