Our commitment to our corporate responsibility framework, sustainable business practices, and a competitive and modern workforce was a priority for the Company in 2022. At the end of the second quarter, we published our corporate responsibility report which highlighted our progress in several key areas including sustainability, our people-first culture, and governance.
We continue to view environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance as a key lever to transform our Company and our industry. Our commitments set out in previous years remain firm, and our ESG strategy remains guided by our three pillars: People, Planet, and Principles.
People
To solve for the energy trilemma and lead in the energy transition, we know our workforce must be globally skilled, diverse, and engaged. In 2022, we expanded our efforts to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into our operating processes for both employees and suppliers. We further improved our talent acquisition processes, strengthened our employee resource groups, and increased our outreach to diverse organizations with an increase in charitable giving to DEI causes compared to 2021.
We also worked to make our community outreach programs more strategic in and inclusive of the areas our employees live and work. We increased our charitable giving in the areas of environment, education and opportunity, and health and safety in multiple regions, including disaster relief for wildfires in Europe.
Our human capital strategy remains a core part of having a fair and equitable energy transition, and our people have an important role to play in driving the transition in the communities where we operate. You can read more in the Human Capital section of the 10-K.
Planet
We had another year of great progress on improving our environmental performance and mobilizing our workforce to reduce greenhouse gas emissions toward our goal of net-zero by 2050. In 2022, we reported a 23% reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions*, an increase in the use of renewable energy, and progress on many of our other environmental priorities.
We also continued to externally engage with key environmental and sustainability stakeholders, ensuring we have a strong voice in policy formation, commercial opportunities, and regulatory advancements. For the first time ever, Baker Hughes attended the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP27) to foster direct dialogue with governments and develop a further ecosystem of partnerships, commercial opportunities, and sustainability programs.
*2021 actual compared to 2019 base year
Principles
Safety, health, integrity, compliance, and human rights are foundational elements of our culture. We continue to be guided by our core values to grow, collaborate, lead, and care, combined with our strong governance model. I remain proud that Baker Hughes employees act with integrity throughout our workplace, striving to maintain ethical supply chains and promoting respect for fundamental human rights globally.
We continue to make occupational safety, health, and emergency management top priorities in Baker Hughes, with many of the lessons learned throughout the COVID-19 pandemic now permanently embedded within our work. Our ESG and financial performance were recognized throughout 2022, with numerous awards given to Baker Hughes for our initiatives. Our next corporate responsibility report will be published in the second quarter of 2023.