Saint-Gobain // Universal Registration Document 2021

Strategy The Group’s environment

The Group’s environment 1. Major challenges and opportunities 1.1

Climate change, depletion of natural resources, urbanization and demographic growth, digitalization, changing lifestyles: the world is facing considerable challenges.

2

Megatrends and challenges

Saint-Gobain’s responses

Decarbonization of the construction and industrial sectors

Climate change

Reduction of material extraction, accelerated movement towards a circular model Solutions for renovation, construction and mobility Acceleration in innovation, collection and use of data Solutions adapted to new uses, adaptation to new demands

Depletion of natural resources

Urbanization

Digitalization

Changing lifestyles

These challenges are doubly important for Saint-Gobain: they offer immense growth potential and give the Group the opportunity to make a difference by having a positive impact on the planet and on the lives of all. These are long-term trends, which are mutually reinforcing, and whose effects are made more visible by the occurrence of an economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The effects of the latter are still being strongly felt, at the end of 2021, through phenomena such as the disruption of supply chains, the increase in raw material prices, the dynamics of consumption, inflation and, more generally, seesaw effects (sharp falls and recoveries) on economic

activity. In October 2021, Saint-Gobain thus anticipated an increase in its energy and raw materials costs of around €1.5 billion in 2021 compared to 2020, of which €1.1 billion for the second half alone (1) . In general, the pandemic makes it more difficult to forecast in the short and medium term, due to the great variability of its impact from one country to another, as well as the uncertainties that persist on the outcome of the health crisis. However, there is a rebound in growth in 2021 that is greater than the drop in GDP observed in 2020 (2) .

Growth rate of global GDP, 1990-2026

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

-1

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2019

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

2004

-2

-3

-4

(1) Press release, November 6, 2021. (2) International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, October 2021.

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