Growth in harmony with the environment and society

Introducing Bayer’s Sustainable Development Report for 2010, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, the member of the Bayer AG Board of Management responsible for Innovation, Technology and Environment, said: “Based on our commitment to sustainability, we are addressing key global challenges and driving economic growth in harmony with ecological and social interests.”

For example, Bayer is aiming for a 35 percent reduction in its specific greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 2005 levels. A major contribution toward achieving this goal will come from the energy-intensive Bayer MaterialScience subgroup, which has raised its reduction target from 25 to 40 percent. “We already invested €1 billion in climate-related research and development and projects between 2008 and 2010 as planned. But climate protection remains an ongoing task and continues to require a substantial effort,” said Prof. Dr. Plischke. Bayer plans to achieve a further 10 percent increase in the energy efficiency of its production facilities by the end of 2012. “Not only will this reduce our impact on the climate by around half a million metric tons of CO₂ annually,” said Plischke. “We also expect it to save us some €60 million a year in energy costs.”

For an inventor company like Bayer, ­innovation is the key to success. “That means innovations that help improve people’s lives are also the most effective catalyst for sustainability, in keeping with our mission ‘Bayer: Science For A Better Life,’” he added. The level of investment to be made in the company’s future underscores its commitment to innovation. Bayer is planning research and development expenses and capital expenditures totaling €15 billion in the period through 2013.

Dr. Wolfgang Engshuber, chairman of the UN-backed investor initiative “Principles for Responsible Investment” (UN PRI) and Chief Administrative Officer of Munich Reinsurance America, explained the growing importance of sustainable investment for the financial market: “Whether a company aligns its strategy toward sustainable success is not only a criterion for investors specializing in sustainable investment, but has long become relevant to mainstream investment as well.”

As part of its Sustainability Program, Bayer contributes its products and core expertise to numerous projects that directly benefit millions of people all over the world, particularly in the areas of climate protection, health care provision and the safeguarding of food supplies. For example, the company plans to further improve the energy efficiency of its own production facilities and increasingly market products of its own for climate-friendly applications, including those featured in the EcoCommercial Building Program of Bayer MaterialScience. Family planning is a further key area of the Bayer Sustainability Program. The company is making modern contraceptives available to more people in developing countries in cooperation with organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the German Foundation for World Population (DSW).

Bayer is also committed to the fight against what are known as “neglected diseases,” which affect one billion people. In the field of nutrition, the company focuses on the sustainable cultivation of high-quality, affordable food, particularly in threshold countries. Bayer maintained a strong social commitment in 2010, providing some €57 million for charitable purposes, with key areas including education and research, health care, and recreational and disabled sports.