Good morning, and welcome to the virtual webcast of the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Dow Inc. We do not expect any technical difficulties today. However, in the event we lose audio or webcast connection and we are unable to provide any updates, please wait 10 minutes for resolution. Please refer to the company's investors website for updates. The polls are open. To vote, click on the Vote Here button on your webcast screen. The polls will remain open until the conclusion of the matters to be voted on portion of the meeting. I would now like to introduce Dow's General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Amy Wilson, to begin the meeting.
Thank you. During the webcast today, the company may make forward-looking statements about our expectations or predictions about the future. Because these statements are based on current assumptions and factors that involve risks and uncertainties, the company's actual performance and results may differ materially from what is said here today.
Please refer to Dow's 2021 annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2022, and our subsequent SEC filings for detailed discussions of principal risks and uncertainties that could cause such differences. Please note that stockholders who have logged into the webcast using their assigned control number may submit questions using the Ask a Question field. These questions will not be visible to other participants. After the business portion of the meeting, we will take time to answer some of the questions submitted.
Time for questions is limited. As such, each stockholder is limited to one question. To the extent we receive multiple questions relating to a single topic, we may provide one answer. If your question is not addressed today, a response will be posted on our investor website. With that, we'll play a few recorded remarks and business highlights from Dow's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Fitterling, before we call the business meeting to order.
Thank you, Amy. On behalf of Team Dow, I'd like to welcome each of you. As is our custom, I'll provide some remarks and business highlights before we open the official meeting. First, I'd like to acknowledge the hard work, focus, and resiliency of my Dow colleagues around the world and thank them for all that they accomplished in 2021. I'm extremely proud of what Team Dow delivered last year and the work they did to position us to continue creating long-term value for our shareholders in the years ahead.
As you know, 2021 was not an easy year. Whether you look at the pandemic, weather disruptions, or the supply chain issues around the globe, 2021 was a year of challenges. Against that backdrop, Team Dow achieved historic performance, executing with agility to deliver strong financial and operating performance. We further strengthened the balance sheet as we reduced gross debt and posted credit rating and outlook upgrades. On top of that, we returned more than $3 billion to shareholders, all while continuing to invest in higher return, lower risk projects that will power our future growth.
At the same time, we continued to advance our ambition and maintain our commitment to the well-being and safety of our teams and our communities. That work led us to become the only materials science company named to the Great Place to Work and Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, an acknowledgement of our intentional focus to make Dow a more inclusive organization where everyone can thrive.
Even as Team Dow delivered on its financial and operating commitments, we also focused on bolstering our competitive advantages to address the growing need for sustainable solutions. The world is demanding products and companies that create a more sustainable world, and Dow is taking the necessary steps now to help deliver that future. This past year, for example, we laid out a clear pathway for Dow to decarbonize while growing our underlying EBITDA by more than $3 billion across the economic cycle. That's a double win for all our stakeholders.
Decarbonizing is a critical part of our commitment to reduce emissions by a total of 30% by 2030 and achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. We plan to take a site-by-site approach, replacing end-of-life assets with carbon efficient technologies that lower emissions while also expanding product capacity, and doing so at attractive returns.
I encourage you to become familiar with our industry-leading decarbonization strategy. It's a true reflection of our commitment to deliver value to all our stakeholders and fulfill our ambition to become the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive, and sustainable materials science company in the world. We're working hard with our customers and in our labs to maintain a strong innovation pipeline.
We commercialized nearly 2,000 new products last year, solutions that deliver better performance and greater sustainability than ever before. Our digital sales have now reached a run rate of approximately $1 billion per month. Our investments in high throughput research, artificial intelligence, and machine learning have sped up experimental productivity by an average of 100x .
You can read more about those efforts, as well as our greater environmental, social, and governance efforts in Dow's new consolidated ESG report, I ntersections, which was published last year. I'm proud of the work that we're doing at Dow. Our disciplined and balanced approach delivered for all of our stakeholders last year. I'm confident we're on the right path to continue delivering against our commitments to you, our owners, as well as Dow's broader stakeholder groups.
To that end, we recently announced that we will be launching a new $3 billion share buyback program, reinforcing our commitment to return 65% of net income back to our owners through the cycle. Our differentiated portfolio enables earnings growth and cash flow resiliency through the economic cycle and positions us to deliver mid-cycle earnings above pre-pandemic levels.
Global demand strength has continued into 2022, and economic activity has been supported, translating into continued demand strength across our end markets today and moving forward. Our order books for packaging remain strong. Construction demand is ramping, resulting in tight supply for durable goods and industrial applications. The coatings value chain continues to meet current demand and rebuild inventories ahead of the seasonal uptick in architectural demand starting in spring.
Moving forward, we expect continued strength in consumer spending above pre-pandemic levels. Investments in infrastructure are increasing with accelerated adoption for 5G, electric vehicles, and green or zero emission buildings. Light vehicle production is expected to increase about 10% this year, with EV sales up almost 60%. These are the markets our materials and solutions serve today, and our innovation pipeline is aligned to capture additional market share.
Although we see an overall positive economic outlook, we are monitoring a variety of factors such as geopolitical volatility. As the invasion in Ukraine continues to evolve, we have prioritized the safety of our colleagues in Ukraine and Russia, providing evacuation support, financial assistance, and shelter to help our people and their families, as well as humanitarian support to meet immediate needs in Ukraine and nearby countries aiding refugees.
Dow's financial exposure to Ukraine and Russia is limited, representing approximately 1% of our total sales and even less on our bottom line. We previously suspended all feedstock and energy orders from Russia prior to any sanctions or military action, and have now reduced operations and product offerings in Russia, only supplying limited essential goods.
While expanding oil to gas spreads will result in higher global chemical prices and will benefit producers in North America, Argentina, and the Middle East in the near term, those in Asia and Europe are experiencing higher input costs. We are leveraging our advantage feedstock flexibility to mitigate rising raw material and energy costs. For example, Dow has 2-3x more propane flexibility than our European peers, with up to 60% of our regional production based on LPG.
Our operational and financial playbook will once again help us remain agile as we continue to watch for any additional potential impacts on the broader economy. This year, Dow celebrates 125 years, and I don't know of a time when we've been more focused, more energized, and more committed than we are today. All of us are working hard to create a more sustainable future for the world and deliver industry-leading value for you. Thank you for your continued support, ownership, and interest in Dow.
Now I'll turn it over to Jim Fitterling, Dow's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to call the meeting to order.
Thank you, Amy, and welcome everyone. I now call this annual meeting of stockholders to order. It is my intent to chair and conduct the meeting in the manner stated on the agenda and the rules of conduct and procedures. In addition to Amy and me, select members of management, the director nominees, including the lead director, and representatives of our independent auditor, Deloitte & Touche, are in attendance at today's meeting through this webcast.
Amy will now address some of the formalities of the meeting.
Thank you, Jim. The agenda and the rules of conduct and procedures are posted on the webcast screen. The procedures we follow are simple and designed to ensure that we have a fair and orderly meeting. As noted, the polls are open. If you have not already voted your shares or wish to change your vote, you may do so by clicking on the Vote Here button on your webcast screen. The polls will remain open until the conclusion of the matters to be voted on portion of the meeting.
Given the virtual nature of the meeting, we want to have adequate time to hear the stockholder proposal as well as address stockholder questions. As such, we have asked the stockholder proposal proponent to respect the three-minute time allocation. To facilitate this, there will be two audible notifications to remind the proponent at the end of the allotted time.
The first sound will be heard when 30 seconds remain, and a second and final notification will be heard when 10 seconds remain. At the end of the three minutes, the operator will intervene. Please note that this meeting is being recorded. However, participants are not permitted to use any recording device.
A replay of today's meeting will be made available on the company's investor website. Notice of the annual meeting was distributed to all of our common stockholders of record as of February 18, 2022. Proof of notice will be incorporated into the minutes of this meeting. The board appointed Broadridge Financial Solutions to act as the inspector of election for the meeting. We are informed by our inspector that a quorum is deemed present for the purposes of conducting the business of the meeting. We will now review the matters to be voted on.
Under the company's bylaws, the only matters properly before our stockholders today are those set forth in the notice of annual meeting and proxy statement. The bylaws also provide the procedures a stockholder must follow to nominate directors. The period in which stockholders can nominate directors at this meeting has passed.
The first item on the agenda is the election of directors. The Board presents 12 nominees for election as directors. The information set forth in the proxy statement supports the conclusion that these individuals are highly qualified to serve on the Board. The director nominees are Samuel Allen, Gaurdie Banister, Wesley Bush, Richard Davis, Jerri DeVard, Debra Dial, Jeff Fettig, Jim Fitterling, Jacqueline Hinman, Luis Moreno, Jill Wyant, Daniel Yohannes. Your Board recommends a vote for these nominees.
The next items on the agenda are two management proposals. Agenda item two is a stockholder advisory vote to approve executive compensation. Agenda item three concerns the ratification of the selection of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the current year. Your Board recommends a vote for these agenda items.
The next order of business is agenda item four, which is a stockholder proposal regarding an independent board chairman. I understand we have a representative attending today via audio to present the proposal. The need for a second is waived by the company. The proponent will have up to three minutes to present the proposal as provided in the procedural rules. Operator, please open the line.
John Chevedden is on the line to present the stockholder proposal. Mr. Chevedden, please begin.
Hello, this is John Chevedden. Can you hear me okay?
Good morning, Mr. Chevedden. We can hear you. Please proceed.
Proposal four. In dependent Board Chairman. Shareholders request that the board of directors adopt a policy and amend the governing documents in order that two separate people hold the office of the Chairman and the office of CEO. Whenever possible, the Chairman of the Board shall be an independent director. The Board has the discretion to select a temporary Chairman of the Board who is an independent director to serve while the Board is seeking an independent chairman of the board.
If a temporary non-independent director is serving as Chairman of the Board at the time of any company annual meeting of stockholders, the company shall request that its stockholders vote on a proposal to ratify that a non-independent director is to continue to serve as Chairman of the Board temporarily while the board is seeking an independent chairman of the board.
This proposal could go into effect with the transition to the next CEO at Dow. This proposal topic won 52% support at Boeing and 54% support at Baxter International in 2020. Boeing then adopted this proposal topic in June of 2020. The roles of Chairman and CEO are fundamentally different and should be held by two directors, a CEO and a chairman who is completely independent of the CEO and our company. A Lead Director is no substitute for an independent board chairman.
A Lead Director can delegate most of his lead director duties to the CEO office, and then the lead director can simply rubber stamp it. There's no way shareholders can be sure of what goes on. The lack of an independent board chairman is an unfortunate way to discourage new outside ideas and an unfortunate way to green light the CEO to pursue pet projects that would not stand up to effective oversight.
Dow shareholders have had a long-term interest in this proposal topic. This proposal topic won 44% support at our annual meeting 10 years ago. This 44% support likely represented 51% support from the shareholders that have access to independent proxy voting advice. The Dow management does not believe in genuine shareholder engagement on this topic.
Dow management used other people's money to force-feed shareholders with an extra dose of management's view on this topic after the proxy materials had been completely distributed. This is a clear sign that Dow management does not want a level playing field for shareholders to decide for themselves on this topic. Please vote yes. Independent Board Chairman. Proposal four.
Thank you. The Board recommends a vote against this proposal for the reasons set out in the proxy statement. This concludes the review of the matters to be voted on. The polls are now closed. The Inspector of Election will collect and tabulate all of the proxies and ballots. Only a small percentage of the total vote remains to be counted, which should not significantly affect the overall results. Subject to the final tabulation, we report the following preliminary results provided by the inspector.
All of the director nominees have been elected. Stockholders have approved executive compensation and the appointment of Deloitte & Touche has been ratified. Also, subject to the final tabulation, the stockholder proposal did not pass. The final voting results for the election and the other agenda items will become part of the record of the meeting and will be reported in a Form 8-K.
With that, I'll turn it back to Jim.
Thank you, Amy. All items of business have now been completed and the meeting is now adjourned. Amy, please, continue with the Q&A session.
Thanks, Jim. As noted, we will now address stockholder questions compliant with our stated rules. Stockholders may submit questions using the Ask a Question field. Questions may be answered by me, Jim, Howard Ungerleider, Dow's President and Chief Financial Officer, or Richard Davis, our Lead Independent Director. First, we received several questions ahead of the meeting asking us to please explain why we included prominent woke descriptions of race, gender, and sexual orientation in this year's annual report and proxy. Jim, I'd ask if you wanna address these questions.
Thank you, Amy. Dow has long viewed inclusion and diversity as a business imperative that drives stronger business results. Our inclusion and diversity efforts are strategic and intentional. As part of our global strategy, we are committed to transparency and accountability. That means being transparent about our progress and our areas of opportunity via information in our ESG report, I ntersections, our U.S. EEO-1 report, and our annual report, where for the first time this year, our leadership team and board of directors self-identified and disclosed their own dimensions of diversity.
It also means holding ourselves accountable for our progress and being accountable to our board of directors, customers, suppliers, community members, and partners. We're proud of the progress that we've made, and we know that we still have more to do.
There were also several questions regarding how much of Dow's business is in Russia and Ukraine, and if we would change our business operations in light of the invasion and conflict. Jim, if you'd like to comment on that as well.
Thank you, Amy. First, Dow stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and denounces Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We fully support and are complying with the sanctions implemented against Russia and the efforts of the international community to reestablish peace and safeguard democracy. Dow is prioritizing the safety and security of our colleagues in Ukraine and Russia. Dow's exposure to Ukraine and Russia is limited, combined representing 1% of annual sales and less to our bottom line.
The company had previously suspended all orders of feedstocks and energy from Russia and has reduced its operations and product offerings in the country. Under the current circumstances, Dow has also stopped all investments in the region and is only supplying limited essential goods in Russia, including food packaging, hygiene, cleaning and sanitation products, and household goods.
The company is also providing evacuation support, financial assistance, shelter and other support to help employees and their families in Ukraine, and is activating similar processes for our Russian employees. Dow has provided humanitarian support to meet immediate needs in Ukraine and in nearby countries who are aiding Ukrainian refugees.
Thanks, Jim. The next question comes from a stockholder who asks about the board's level of oversight and accountability for ESG topics. They state the Carpenters Pension Funds appreciates the work of the audit committee. As climate related disclosure moves from voluntary disclosures to demanding regulatory requirements, how does the board or the audit committee see the committee's role evolving to effectively handle its expanding responsibilities? I'd like to ask Richard Davis as our Lead Director and also our Chair of our Audit Committee to address that question.
Thank you, Amy. The board engages and actively supports management's comprehensive approach to ESG and enterprise risk management. Throughout the year and at each meeting, the board interacts with management on ESG progress, environmental health and safety practices, and enterprise risk management. Key risks reviewed include climate, cyber threats, and internal controls. The board also provides oversight on Dow's ESG report, Intersections, with each committee providing ESG and risk oversight for respective areas of responsibility.
Additionally, the audit and governance committee are responsible for external assurances that ESG disclosures comply with applicable standards and internal control framework for ESG reporting. The responsibility of the board is to make sure that all the information we collect and report about the company is clear and transparent.
Thank you, Richard. A couple shareholders have submitted questions regarding the board. The first question is, are any director retirements expected in the coming year? A related question, what is the source of the successful director nominations? Where do they come from in the last five years? Jim, if I could ask you to address that one.
Yes, Amy. Under our current retirement guidelines, no incumbent directors are required to announce their retirement in 2022. On how we elect directors, recommendations are received by the Corporate Governance Committee from various sources. The Governance Committee is open to accepting stockholder suggestions of candidates to consider as potential board members within the committee's periodic review of the size and the composition of the board.
The minimum qualifications for board membership include strong values that are aligned with the company, relevant career experience, high ethical standards, and commitment to full participation on the board and committees. Candidates should also possess individual skills, experience, and demonstrated abilities that help meet the current needs of the board and provide for diversity of membership. The corporate governance guidelines contain additional information on this.
Thanks, Jim. I'll direct this next question to Howard Ungerleider, our CFO. A shareholder asks, "How much did Dow spend on share buybacks last year?
Thanks, Amy. Total shareholder remuneration for last year was $3.1 billion, and that was made up of $2.1 billion in dividends and $1 billion in stock buyback last year.
Thanks, Howard. A stockholder has a question regarding the CEO pay ratio. It states in 2021, reported median employee's compensation was more than $157,000. For the 2022 report, this figure was approximately $95,000. Was there a different calculation used?
I'll speak to that question. The CEO pay ratio change was primarily driven by a change in the median employee that's identified. The change in the median employee identified is based on shifts in our employee population to lower average years of service and corresponding pension values. Data is not yet available for our compensation peer group, but historically, our CEO pay ratio has been below our compensation peer group median.
The next question, where and how does the company publicly report its sustainability progress? Jim, I'll ask if you wanna address that question.
Thanks, Amy. Dow has been a leader in reporting and transparency since our first sustainability report in 2003. In 2021, we released our first comprehensive integrated ESG report called Intersections. You can find that on our Dow website. Our 2021 report marked our 18th- year of sustainability disclosure reporting. We've continued to build on our foundation of reporting against the GRI Standards Comprehensive Option and referencing our disclosures to the SASB standards and the World Economic Forum's stakeholder capitalism metrics, progress on commitments to the United Nations Global Compact. The company currently reports under the TCFD framework and is committed to fully implement the recommendations of the TCFD as part of the company's 2021 ESG report, which will be published in the middle of 2022.
Jim, we also received a question about how is Dow performing compared to its peers.
Well, Dow is committed to a culture of transparency and benchmarking. At our upcoming earnings next week, we will plan to publish our annual benchmarking, which will show that Dow continues to be a top quartile performer across all of our key financial metrics. 2021 was an outstanding year for Team Dow. We delivered record financial performance and continued our disciplined execution of our strategic priorities.
We remain committed to executing our strategy to deliver increased shareholder value by decarbonizing and growing the company with greater than $3 billion of earnings additions in flight. Our competitive advantage enables us to meet the increasing needs of our customers and consumers, who are demanding more circular and sustainable products while we work to achieve zero carbon emissions in our own operations.
Thanks, Jim, and thanks also to Howard and Richard. This concludes the Q&A session. As mentioned, any questions compliant with our stated rules that were not answered today will be addressed in writing and posted on the company's website. Thank you for your continued support and your investment in Dow. This concludes today's webcast. A replay of today's meeting will be made available on the company's investor website. Thank you and have a great day.