UMC Leads Semiconductor Foundries in the 2021 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI)

UMC is named to DJSI World for the 14^th straight year and is also listed in the emerging markets index

HSINCHU, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303)(“UMC”) today announced it has been selected again for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI)’s World Index, marking the company’s 14^th consecutive year of inclusion. In addition, UMC has also been named a constituent of the Emerging Markets Index.

UMC achieved the highest overall score among semiconductor foundry constituents and performed especially well in the environmental dimension. Of the 23 criteria, the company has the highest scores in the semiconductor sector for 12 criteria, and scored full marks for 8 criteria, including operational eco-efficiency, product stewardship, materiality, and human capital development. The DJSI World represents the top 10% of 2,500 publicly listed enterprises evaluated every year based on their sustainability performance, while the DJSI Emerging Markets constituents are chosen from 800 companies.

SC Chien, UMC’s co-president and co-chair of the Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Steering Committee, said, “We are very pleased to be once again selected for the DJSI, marking our 14^th consecutive year of inclusion. To be selected from an increasingly competitive pool is not an easy achievement, and the recognition reflects the commitment and dedication of UMC employees at all levels. As a global corporate citizen, UMC strives to balance business growth with our environmental, social, and corporate governance responsibilities. We will continue to embed ESG principles in our corporate strategy with the ultimate goal of leaving a positive footprint on our communities and environment.”

In June this year, the company became the first semiconductor foundry to pledge net zero emissions by 2050, and it plans to reach its target through actively reducing carbon emissions, moving towards 100% renewable energy usage, and investing in net-zero carbon technology. Since 2010, UMC has been implementing a multi-phase resource conservation and environmental protection plan. The current phase, which runs from 2020 to 2025, aims to achieve 15% water saving, 15% electricity saving, 25% waste reduction, and 65% reduction in fluorine-containing greenhouse gases. In addition, in the spirit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ ‘Partnership for the Goals”, UMC plans to work with its suppliers to build a low carbon supply chain, aiming to cut carbon emissions by 20% and raising renewables to 20% of total power usage by 2030. More than 500 suppliers have expressed support for this initiative.

Launched in 1999, the DJSI are a family of benchmarks for investors who wish to integrate sustainability considerations into their portfolios. Created jointly by S&P Dow Jones Indices and SAM, the DJSI combines the experience of an established index provider with the expertise of a specialist in sustainable investing to select the most sustainable companies from across 61 industries.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry company. The company provides high quality IC fabrication services, focusing on logic and various specialty technologies to serve all major sectors of the electronics industry. UMC’s comprehensive IC processing technologies and manufacturing solutions include Logic/Mixed-Signal, embedded High-Voltage, embedded Non-Volatile-Memory, RFSOI and BCD etc. Most of UMC's 12-in & 8-inch fabs with its core R&D are located in Taiwan, with additional ones throughout Asia. UMC has a total of 12 fabs in production with close to 800,000 wafers per month (8-inch equivalent) combined capacity, and all of them are certified with IATF-16949 automotive quality standard. UMC is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, plus local offices in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, Korea, and Singapore, with 19,500 employees worldwide. For more information, please visit: https://www.umc.com.

Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about introduction of new services and technologies, future outsourcing, competition, wafer capacity, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UMC’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. UMC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.