Sustainability

Sustainable Development

In the debate about progress in society as a whole, the concept of sustainability plays a central role. The basis of sustainable development is to keep a balance between economic, ecological and social considerations. For Bayer, this entails in specific terms a commitment to safeguard the long-term commercial success of the company through innovative products, conserve resources, treat the environment responsibly and make a global contribution to maintaining a humane society. For this reason, we have developed special management structures and strategies, set ourselves objectives against which we allow ourselves to be judged and endeavor to report transparently. In our annual Sustainable Development Report we inform, for example, on how we put into practice our commitment to the ten principles of the Global Compact . In so doing, we align ourselves to the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the OECD.

In addition, we pursue dialogue with our stakeholders, i.e. Bayer engages in a continuous and intensive exchange of views with the interest groups of the company: stockholders, business partners, staff, the media, non-governmental organizations, suppliers and authorities.

Strategy: Sustainability Program 2006+

Our Group Sustainability Program provides an overview of our specifi c sustainability objectives through 2010. It is based around the key areas of innovation, product stewardship, excellence in corporate management, social responsibility and responsibility for the environment. In areas where we have identified a greater need for action, we added additional objectives, some of which go beyond 2010.
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Economy: Sustainable Business Practices

Bayer’s goals are a strong innovative and business performance and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Our core competencies are in health care, nutrition and high-tech materials, and our business is aligned to attractive growth markets.
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Ecology: Future-oriented, Efficient and Safe

Throughout its history, Bayer has always placed great importance on protecting the environment. We are continuously on the lookout for solutions to ensure that economic growth is not tied to resource consumption and the generation of emissions and waste. We consider that we have an obligation to use both our technological know-how and the expertise we have invested in our innovative products to protect the environment, natural resources and the climate.
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Employees: Our Potential

The tremendous commitment of our employees plays a central role in ensuring the success of our business. Bayer therefore maintains a responsible human resources policy covering all aspects from vocational training across the entire working life of our employees. Our employees benefit from an extensive range of job-related training opportunities, pension plans and health care provision and healthy working conditions.
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Our Performance and Objectives

In the following Performance Report, we render a detailed account of our sustainability performance in the year under review 2008 on the basis of clearly defined objectives and performance indicators. In this way we want to provide the reader with transparent and rapid access to all essential data and information on sustainability in the Bayer Group.
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