LOS ANGELES - The commitment of large companies to sustainable business practices that enhance communities and protect the environment will ultimately ease public concern about globalization, the chief executive of UPS (NYSE:UPS) said today.

"Moving forward, the health of globalization - and its worldwide acceptance - will be conditioned on how well multinational business leaders address the economic, environmental and social implications of their actions," said Mike Eskew, addressing the 2003 Business for Social Responsibility Conference.

Eskew said opponents of globalization who claim that multinational corporations care only about profits are seeing only part of the story.

"The bottom line is that smart global corporations today are paying attention to a triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social progress," he said. "No development in the history of mankind has brought greater opportunity, greater prosperity, greater understanding and greater hope for peace in the world than free market trade."

Sustainable business practices are essential to expanding the global economy and are critical to the survival of companies like UPS, Eskew said. And he noted that UPS has formalized the examination of the economic, environmental and social implications of its business in the form of its first Corporate Sustainability Report, released at the conference today.

The UPS report, called Operating in Unison, provides a detailed look at the company's impact on communities worldwide, both progress made and areas where the company remains constructively dissatisfied. The report includes key performance measurements and establishes sustainability goals that the company is committed to meeting by 2007 on its 100th anniversary. By developing new ways to accurately measure business impacts, UPS has set the bar for the transportation and logistics industry.

"As a company with 360,000 employees, 88,000 vehicles and 2,850 facilities worldwide, we realize that UPS has a significant impact on society, the global economy and on the environment," said Eskew. "We believe our stakeholders have a right to know where we stand on our sustainability efforts, where we're headed and how we plan to get there. We place great value in the transparency of our business and the ways in which we hold ourselves accountable."

Part of UPS's approach to sustainability has been the creation of a single, highly integrated transportation network that maximizes UPS's ability to move goods by ship, rail, aircraft and truck. This approach has consistently delivered industry-leading financial results while helping to reduce environmental impact and benefiting employees and communities worldwide.

As an example of UPS's approach to sustainability, Eskew described the company's recent announcement of a $600 million investment to re-engineer its domestic package network. Powered by the data accompanying each package, the new Package Flow Technologies are expected to save 14 million gallons of fuel annually, reduce CO2 emissions by 130,000 metric tons and reduce miles driven by more than 100 million per year. This should translate into $600 million in annual savings when deployment in more than 1,000 package centers is completed by 2007.

"UPS's integrated network not only benefits UPS but helps our customers achieve their own sustainability goals," Eskew said. "Our products and services, which enable the flow of goods, information and funds, help our customers to run their businesses more efficiently, reduce waste and strengthen their bottom lines."

Key data points in the report include water, energy and fuel usage in UPS operations; alternative fuel vehicle deployment; employee participation in safety initiatives as well as training and development programs; employee opinion surveys, and employee ownership of UPS stock. Additionally, the report summarizes how UPS addresses all three aspects (economic, social, environmental) of a sustainable enterprise.

"The UPS sustainability report is published at an important time in the history of our company," Eskew said. "Our business is moving rapidly into a new frontier of synchronizing global commerce, easing the restrictions among trading partners whether those partners are located across the street or on the other side of the world. We believe synchronizing commerce is an inherently sustainable business practice that will have a positive impact on the health of the global economy in the coming years."

The full text of Eskew's speech is available at www.pressroom.ups.com. The full text of UPS's sustainability report is available at www.sustainability.ups.com.

UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information, and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS), and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com.

UPS

UPS

UPS is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including transporting packages and freight; facilitating international trade, and deploying advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves 10.6 million customers daily in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide.

For more information, please visit UPS.com or the company’s Sustainability website, ups.com/sustainability. View and subscribe to UPS Horizons, our sustainability newsletter, by visiting ups.com/sustainabilitynewsletter.

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