Performance Report

Corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an integral part of Bayer’s corporate philosophy and has a history at the company dating back over 100 years. Our primary objective is to reconcile economic success with environmental protection, conservation of natural resources and social concerns.
Under our “Making Science Make Sense” program, employees volunteer to visit schools to demonstrate the benefits of science with the aid of hands-on experiments.

In focus

  • Commitment to corporate social responsibility as a good corporate citizen
  • Focus on issues of global or particular social relevance in countries in which Bayer operates
  • Commitment to areas with a link to our business operations and corporate expertise
  • Support and encouragement of voluntary work by our employees

Our philosophy

We consider ourselves to be a responsible member of society and a good corporate citizen. We see our CSR activities as a long-term investment in the future well-being of society and our company.
Our corporate social responsibility activities are designed to have an enduring impact. The focus is on issues that have global or particular social relevance in countries in which Bayer operates. We endeavor to provide technical and economic expertise to back up our employees’ commitment in areas which have a link to our business operations. We employ a variety of tools – ranging from our own projects (often in cooperation with partners), corporate volunteering and donations (financial aid, medicines and materials) to the support programs of the Bayer foundations and the activities of our sports clubs and Bayer Arts & Culture.
Despite falling sales in 2009, the Group set aside €44 million for support projects across the globe in the key areas of Education & Research, Environment & Nature, Health & Social Needs, and Sports & Culture. Although CSR expenditure was around €5 million lower than in 2008, this was not fully the result of a reduced financial commitment to our core sustainability programs, but was caused by decisions not to implement additional one-off measures.

Our management strategy

Around half of the sum of €44 million Bayer spends on its CSR activities is financed by budgets administered at Group headquarters. This includes the funds of the two Bayer foundations. The other half is made available through the local CSR budgets of the Group companies. As with the projects we initiate ourselves, professional project management is an aspect we consider to be especially important in third-party projects we provide funding for – and that means in particular a goal-oriented approach, effectiveness, sustainability, efficient and transparent use of funds, and evaluation of support measures.
A Group-wide directive establishes a framework for the strategic alignment and proper handling of all charitable donations. The Group Management Board’s approval is required for amounts exceeding €10,000. Since 2006, Bayer has applied a systematic reporting procedure for its global social commitment.

Social commitment in 2009: overview of expenditure

€
thousand		Share
of total
%		%
Education & Research4,87911
Science education in schools
(e.g. "Baylabs" school support program, scientific competitions, “Making Science Make Sense” initiative)		1,70334.9
Student scholarships94619.4
Support for science and research (e.g. awards, chairs)1,85138.0
General school education3146.4
Other651.3
Environment & Nature2,6596
Environmental education with the focus on youth2,14380.6
Nature preservation and biodiversity26510.0
Sustainable agriculture1766.6
Other752.8
Health & Social Needs15,21335
Public health programs (e.g. access to contraceptives)8,35854.9
Health education2,77018.2
Social community projects1,95312.8
Support for patient organizations1,0727.1
Medical research (non-profit)4893.2
Social volunteer projects2801.9
Disaster aid2721.8
Other190.1
Sports & Culture20,76848
Bayer sports clubs14,89871.7
Bayer Arts & Culture4,77823.0
Bayer cultural clubs5732.8
Other5192.5

Promotion of education and research

Society as a whole, and Bayer as a research-oriented company in particular, is reliant on having an up-and-coming generation of young people with a sound scientific education. That is why we invest in scientific and technical education at schools, support talented students and honor outstanding research achievements. In the year under review, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation provided just under €1 million in funding for appropriate support programs in Germany.
The Bayer foundation invested just under €500,000 in 51 schools situated close to our sites in Germany to improve the conditions for science teaching.
In 2009, Bayer supported talented students in Germany and worldwide with grants totaling just under €1 million.
In the same year, Brazil joined the list of countries participating in Bayer’s educational program “Making Science Make Sense,” which means schoolchildren in a total of 12 countries are now benefiting from the voluntary involvement of Bayer employees who visit schools to demonstrate the fascinating aspects and benefits of science with the aid of hands-on experiments. The Group further facilitates this commitment on the part of its employees by providing some €350,000 in funding for training measures and teaching materials.

Awards by the Bayer Science & Education Foundation

In 2009, this foundation presented the newly established Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award to three young scientists, who received €10,000 each. The recipients were Dr. Jürgen Groll of RWTH Aachen University in Germany for the “Materials” field, Dr. Noriyuki Nishimura from the University of California, San Diego, United States, in the “Biology” category, and Dr. Tobias Ritter of Harvard University in the United States for “Chemicals.”
The Hansen Family Award 2009 went to Professor Patrik Cramer for his research work in the field of molecular research. The recipient of the Otto Bayer Award 2010 was Professor Detlef Weigel from the Max Planck Institute for Development Biology for his outstanding research work in the field of plant genetics. In 2010, the prize money for the two awards, which are presented every two years alternately, was increased from €50,000 to €75,000 each.
Another prize presented by the foundation is the Bayer Climate Award. You can read more about this here.

Encouraging a judicious approach to nature and the environment

As a company with international production operations, Bayer considers environmental protection, nature conservation and the judicious use of natural resources to be an important part of its social responsibility. Given that the next generation will have a major role to play here, one of the company’s key areas of focus is encouraging the environmental commitment of young people across the globe and raising their awareness of environmental issues.
As part of our global partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), we supported joint projects in 2009 with €1.2 million of funding and additional non-financial assistance. The focus was on the International Children’s and Youth Conference on the Environment in the South Korean city of Daejeon, with 600 participants from some 100 countries. Thanks to a particularly enthusiastic response from China, the 18th UNEP-Bayer International Children’s Painting Competition received a record-breaking 2.4 million entries from 89 countries. Also, the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy program was expanded to include Chile – now the 19th participating country.
In China, Bayer launched a special environmental protection program called “Seeding for Green” to lay the foundation for a green future. One aspect of this program is making young people and the population in general more environmentally aware. Our initiatives under the program include the Bayer Environmental Award for Media and a children’s book about global warming.
Under its Bayer Climate Program, the company recognizes significant contributions to the scientific debate on climate change. Its aim is to draw attention to the great relevance to society as a whole of research in climate sciences. In 2008, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation initiated the Bayer Climate Award. This award worth €50,000 is presented every two years. The 2010 winner is Professor Peter Lemke from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany link.

Global commitment to 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 problems. We are able to draw on the company’s particular expertise and many years of experience in the field of health care.
We take on global responsibility in this field through partnerships with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations, such as the German Foundation for World Population (DSW) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) link.
In 2009, the volunteer program of our foundation for corporate social responsibility – the Bayer Cares Foundation – provided more than €100,000 in funding to support 42 projects close to our German sites. At the beginning of 2010, the program was extended to the Bayer sites in Latin America, with the initial inclusion of six projects in which Bayer employees and members of the public provide active and exemplary support to improve local living conditions.
Another important area is aid for victims of natural disasters. For decades, Bayer has been donating medicines, materials and financial aid to help people in desperate need around the world. For example, we donated medicines worth more than €660,000 to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010. In addition, employees in 34 countries responded to the appeal by Group management and donated a total of €255,000 for a long-term reconstruction project, to which the company added an extra €100,000. Furthermore, a donation of US$100,000 from the company was used to build emergency accommodation for the victims of the earthquake in Chile in February 2010.

Traditional commitment to sports and culture

Bayer has a long history of encouraging clubs and has been committed to sports for more than 100 years. The company’s three focal points in this respect are popular, youth and disabled sport. The 50,000 active members of the 27 Bayer clubs at our German sites – around half of them Bayer employees – benefit from a wide range of opportunities to practice sport as a valuable leisure pursuit and to keep fit and healthy in the process. Our involvement in professional soccer is not part of our voluntary corporate social responsibility program but comes under the Group’s image advertising activities.
Bayer has also served as a patron of the arts for more than a century. The extensive program of events organized by Bayer Arts & Culture and our support for a range of ensembles and societies make a significant contribution to cultural life and enhance the attractiveness of our corporate locations.
http://www.sustainability2009.bayer.com/en/corporate-social-responsibility.aspx

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