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9. Sustainability

Sustainability is a key component of our Values and Leadership Principles. True to our mission statement “Bayer: Science For A Better Life,” we aim for sustainable commercial success based on sound business models and in harmony with the needs of our employees, society and the environment. To underline this mission we have committed to international sustainability initiatives such as the U.N. Global Compact and the Responsible Care Global Charter.

Our objective is to develop innovative solutions that will help address global challenges such as providing sustainable health care, feeding a steadily growing world population, combating climate change and overcoming the scarcity of natural resources. We therefore plan to align our core businesses to sustainability criteria even more rigorously than before. In 2009 we launched the Bayer Sustainability Program, initially comprising eight lighthouse projects. Major areas of focus are our alliances for sustainable health care, innovative partnerships to improve the supply of high-quality food, and new solutions for protecting the climate and managing natural resources.

Oversight of the Group-wide sustainability strategy has been assigned to Group committees headed by the member of the Board of Management responsible for Innovation, Technology and Environment. As part of our “sustainability in procurement” strategy, we have compiled a code of conduct for suppliers covering ethics, employee relations, occupational health, safety, environmental protection, quality and management systems. Our suppliers are selected and evaluated on the basis of this code starting at the end of 2009.

To steer our sustainability performance, we have defined specific targets and indicators through 2010, both for the Group as a whole and for our subgroups and service companies, in five fields of activity: innovation, product stewardship, management excellence, social commitment and environmental responsibility. These are supplemented by additional goals reaching beyond 2010 in areas where we believe the need for action is greatest – such as climate protection.

Each year we publish a Sustainable Development Report based on Application Level A+ of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.