Bayer wins accolade for promoting environment

Bayer CEO Werner Wenning said the company's top position in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index reinforces the firm's commitment to continue developing activities in the field of climate protection in the future. Bloomberg News

Germany-based Bayer Group has been listed in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index as the world's top company with outstanding achievements in climate protection.

Bayer was the only European company in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry to be included for the fifth time in the global climate index.

According to the index, Bayer performed well in consistently specializing in activities related to climate protection and transparent sustainability reporting work. Moreover, Bayer scored more highly than in the previous year.

"Our top position reinforces Bayer's commitment to continue developing our activities in the field of climate protection in the future," said Bayer CEO Werner Wenning.

According to Paul Dickinson, chief executive of CDP, companies listed in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index were rewarded for high quality responses to CDP, which demonstrate a good understanding of how climate change impacts their business.

"Companies that control their risks today, manage their emissions and seize the opportunities to produce low carbon goods and services will be the best placed to prosper in a low-carbon economy of the future," Dickinson added.

According to Wolfgang Plischke, member of the Bayer Board of Management Responsible for Innovation, Technology and Environment, in all Bayer's business activities, the aim is to balance commercial success with the needs of Bayer's employees, society and sustainable environmental protection work.

"Bayer is working on specific, innovative solutions to the central challenges of sustainable development from climate protection and protecting drinking water to securing the food supply for the growing world population and global healthcare," Plischke added.

The criteria for the CDP ranking include the level and quality of their disclosure of climate change strategic data, reporting on a long-term climate strategy, as well as on targets and concrete successes in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

As part of its climate program, Bayer aims to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its own production facilities and develop new solutions for protecting the climate and dealing with the consequences of climate change.

Bayer Group focuses on improving energy efficiency and using climate-friendly technologies and products.

For example, the group is carrying out research on increasing the resistance of plants to heat and drought that are becoming even more serious as a consequence of climate change.

And, after working with various partners for several years, Bayer has also developed a concept called the "Eco-Commercial Building", which involves the construction of zero-emission buildings.

According to the company, the first project of this kind was an office building in India, and another was a kindergarten in Germany.

"In the future, this concept, which can be implemented anywhere in the world, will make an important contribution to climate protection in the construction sector," said the company.

"With effective insulation based on high-grade Bayer raw materials and with the deeper R&D (research and development) work on renewable energy, it will help cut energy consumption in such a building by over 20 percent," added the company.

In early September, Bayer was listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for 2009, another major index focusing on sustainability with a special focus on climate protection.

Inclusion in the DJSI World was based on an analysis of corporate sustainability performance, which was made by the independent Swiss asset management company Sustainable Asset Management.

According to sources from DJSI World, Bayer was one of the few German companies to have been included in the DJSI World continuously since its establishment in 1999.

(China Daily 10/26/2009 page11)