Corporate Social Responsibility

The principle of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is firmly embedded in Bayer’s philosophy and strategy as a business enterprise. The company considers itself part of society and therefore obligated to behave as a responsible corporate citizen. Bayer’s CSR commitment is exemplified by numerous projects that the company organizes or supports in many parts of the world, some of which have been running for years. In 2008 the Bayer Group provided funding of nearly €50 million for these activities, focusing on the areas of education and research, environment and nature, health and social needs, and sports and culture. We continuously adapt the scope of our projects and/or extend them to additional countries.

Education and research

Bayer traditionally places great importance on support for education and research, which are essential to the future viability of society. A company such as ours depends on recruiting people with a very high level of scientific skills.

In 2008 the Bayer Science & Education Foundation provided financial support for outstanding scientists, high-achieving university students and dedicated school students. It also sponsored innovative teaching programs in schools. The €50,000 Otto Bayer Award for 2008 went to Professor Thomas Carell of the Institute for Chemistry and Pharmacy at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany, for his work in the field of DNA repair. As part of the Bayer Climate Program, the foundation presented the Bayer Climate Award, also in the amount of €50,000, for the first time in 2008. The honor went to Emeritus Professor Eberhard Jochem of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in Karlsruhe for his groundbreaking contributions to the improvement of energy efficiency, which is essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Bayer Climate Award is one of the first international prizes to be awarded by a company for fundamental research in climate science.

Bayer provided nearly €140,000 to sponsor 23 gifted and ambitious students in the fields of natural sciences and medicine. The foundation also provided roughly €500,000 in funding for 47 school programs in communities near our sites to help improve the conditions in which science is taught. Again in the context of the Bayer Climate Program, the foundation in 2008 awarded its first scholarships for school students participating in international sustainability seminars. Denmark joined the list of countries participating in Bayer’s educational program “Making Science Make Sense,” which means schoolchildren in 11 countries are now benefiting from the commitment of Bayer employees who visit schools to demonstrate the fascination and benefits of science with the aid of hands-on experiments.

Environment and nature

Protecting the environment and nature has long been of major importance to Bayer. As a company with international production operations, Bayer believes the judicious use of natural resources is a major part of its social responsibility along with environmental protection and nature conservation.

In 2008 Bayer and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) again organized around a dozen environmental projects for young people and children within the scope of their global environmental education partnership. The centerpiece of these joint activities was an auction in New York City featuring selected pictures on the subject of climate change that were entered for the International Children’s Painting Competition organized each year by the two partners. More than 15,000 children from 90 countries took part in the 2008 competition. The proceeds from the sale of the paintings were donated to a newly established aid fund administered by UNICEF for children in a position of need following climate-related disasters. Bayer also assisted UNEP in organizing the international children’s environmental conference and regional youth environmental conferences.

The Young Environmental Envoy program launched by Bayer in Thailand in 1998 last year celebrated the 10th anniversary of its founding. This time young environmental activists from a total of 18 countries in Asia, Latin America, eastern Europe and Africa participated in the week-long study trip to Germany. Nearly 1,000 young photographers from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia participated in the 2008 “Ecology in Focus” competition, which centered on the issue of how to tackle climate change.

Health and social needs

Bayer demonstrates an active commitment to improving social conditions and health services in many regions of the world with the dual aim of promoting social stability in the communities near its sites and helping to solve global health challenges.

As part of this commitment, the Bayer Cares Foundation supported 21 charitable projects in the environs of our sites with total funding of nearly €90,000. In this way the foundation rewarded employee and citizen volunteerism as a central feature of an active community.

The second permanent area of activity for the Bayer Cares Foundation is providing rapid emergency aid in situations such as natural disasters and assisting with sustainable reconstruction projects. For example, Bayer provided immediate relief to earthquake victims in Sichuan, China, in the form of medicines, equipment and financial aid to which our employees also contributed. The foundation also supported long-term reconstruction efforts, resulting in total assistance from Bayer worth more than €2.2 million. The Bayer Cares Foundation, in cooperation with the Red Cross, provided 20 modern container classrooms, 50 homes and a mobile clinic, using Bayer’s technical expertise, for a college complex with more than 7,000 students in the particularly hard-hit city of Dujiangyan.

In the area of health care, Bayer launched a new collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The company will provide USAID with up to 110 million cycles of oral contraceptives annually for family planning programs in developing countries throughout the world at significantly reduced prices. These efforts will give more than eight million women each year access to modern, reliable hormonal contraception.

Culture and sports

Bayer has served as a patron of the arts for more than a century. The extensive program of events organized by Bayer’s Cultural Affairs Department and our support for a range of clubs and societies make a significant contribution to cultural life and enhance the attractiveness of our corporate locations.

Bayer has also sponsored sports for over 100 years. Here we focus particularly on the promotion of sports for the disabled as well, mainly through our support for club activities. Among the highlights of 2008 were the 13th Paralympics in Beijing, China, at which the 13 participating disabled athletes from Bayer took home eight medals.

As well as sponsoring disabled athletes as part of our CSR activities, we again supported top-class sports in 2008, with a total of 21 Bayer club members taking part in the 29th Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. As at the Paralympics, the Olympic competitors from TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen made up the world’s largest club contingent.