Sharing the power of light

May 16, 2019

Today is the International Day of Light, and our head of CSR, Prajna Khanna, explains how at Signify we approach our responsibility to give light to the world.

For most of us who are living north of the equator, our day starts with the flick of the light switch. In the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen. We then come to work – and the lights are on, our kids are at school being prepared for their future, under the glow of artificial lights, people in hospitals are being healed with precision under varying shades of light.

And of course, when the days get darker, our path home is illuminated, and we go back to the warmth of our homes and families surrounded by the lighting we have so carefully curate to enhance our lives.

When I came to work for a lighting company, I would joke that we were even referred to in the Bible: “And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light!” It was a comment only in jest, but there’s a serious point there too: as a lighting company we can give back to communities – and literally light up lives – simply by doing what we do best.

Around one billion people – or about 13% of the world’s population – still live without electric light. If current policies and population trends continue, as many as 674 million people will continue to live without electricity in 2030.¹

As Signify, we feel it’s our responsibility to not just manage the impact of our own operations but to give back to the communities we operate in. And we don’t just honor this responsibility, we celebrate it.

Some examples include providing women in Tanzania with a livelihood through project WE SOLVE, our support for the Solar Saheli in rural India and our employees’ commitment to volunteering.

Drawing from Maslow’s theory of the human path to self-actualization, it’s my belief that a company can similarly move upward in its role as a responsible corporate citizen. I call it “the social hierarchy for responsible companies”.

Progressing from managing its own environmental footprint, to giving back through charity and reaching the peak by embedding and promoting transformational practices that contribute to addressing shared global challenges. I see this as ‘self-actualization’ for companies.