Performance Report

Corporate social responsibility

Our voluntary corporate social responsibility is the third level of our sustainability concept, alongside the sustainable shaping of our value added chain and our products and services. We aim to help improve living conditions and create opportunities for the future through this commitment, in keeping with our mission statement “Bayer: Science For A Better Life.” We made available approximately €50 million in funding in 2008 for the social projects, many of which are longstanding, that Bayer organizes and supports in numerous regions of the world. We focus our efforts on the areas of Education and Research, Environment and Nature, Health and Social Needs, and Sports and Culture.

Supporting talented young people and leading researchers

Bayer traditionally places great importance on support for education and research, which are central factors in the ability of society to thrive in the future. As a company we are dependent on a flow of new employees WHO have had very good scientific training.

In 2008, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation provided funding to outstanding scientists, excellent students and dedicated schoolchildren, as well as to schools for innovative teaching projects. At the beginning of 2009, the €50,000 Hansen Family Award went to Professor Patrick Cramer of Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich for his achievements in the field of molecular research. The Otto Bayer Award, which carries equal prize money, was presented by the foundation in 2008 to Professor Thomas Carell of the Institute of Chemistry and Pharmacy at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich for his research into dna repair.

The Bayer foundation provided funding of approximately €140,000 to support gifted and ambitious students in the disciplines of natural science and medicine. Some €500,000 in funding went to 47 school projects aimed at improving the conditions for scientific instruction at schools in the communities near our sites.

Our foundation activities are increasingly dedicated to the issue of climate change: In the context of the Bayer Climate Program, we presented the inaugural Bayer Climate Award to Professor Eberhard Jochem for his groundbreaking contributions to increasing energy efficiency. This distinction, which also carries a purse of €50,000, is one of the first international award presented for outstanding achievements in fundamental climate science research. Since 2008, the foundation has also awarded scholarships to selected schoolchildren enabling them to take part in international sustainability seminars. The first five students thus had the opportunity last year to develop new ideas for climate protection and sustainable development at the Bayer Sustainability Camp in the United States.

Bayer’s educational program “Making Science Make Sense” continues to be a success, with Denmark in 2008 becoming the 11th country to join the initiative. Furthermore, the Bayer USA Foundation received dual accolades for its efforts in connection with “Making Science Make Sense”: The National Science Board presented the Bayer foundation with the Public Service Award, while the Council on Foundations honored the company with the silver medal of the Wilmer Shields Rich Award 2008 for its outstanding communications work.

Bayer as a partner in environmental and nature protection

Protection of the environment and nature has long been important to Bayer. We consider working to ensure the careful use of natural resources and the protection of the environment and nature to be a key element of our corporate social responsibility, and we have made a particular commitment to promote environmental knowledge among young people worldwide.

In 2008 Bayer and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) once again organized more than a dozen environmental projects for young people and children within the scope of their global partnership for youth and the environment. Bayer supports UNEP with annual funding of €1.2 million in total. The centerpiece of these activities was an auction in New York City in the United States featuring selected pictures on climate change from the International Children’s Painting Competition organized each year by the two partners. More than 15,000 children from 90 different countries took part in the competition in 2008. The proceeds of US$21,000 were donated to a newly established aid fund administered by unicef for children put in a position of need following climate-related disasters. Bayer also assisted UNEP in organizing an international children’s environmental conference and regional youth environmental conferences.

Worldwide activities in the area of health and social needs

Bayer works in many regions of the world to improve social conditions. The Bayer Cares Foundation, which aims to alleviate social needs, supported 21 established and newly adopted charitable projects in the communities near our German sites with total funding of around €80,000 in 2008. The foundation thus rewarded the volunteer activities of employees and local citizens as a central element of an active community.

The second fixed area of activity for this Bayer foundation is rapid aid for people WHO have been put in a situation of need, for instance following natural disasters, as well as for sustainable reconstruction projects. In 2008, for example, Bayer provided immediate relief to earthquake victims in Sichuan, China, in the form of medicines and material and monetary donations worth more than €2.2 million. These donations, which included employee contributions, enabled the construction of modern container buildings for 20 classrooms, 50 apartments and a health clinic, among other projects. At the beginning of 2009, Bayer donated €50,000 to the Australian Red Cross following the devastating bush fires and severe flooding in that country.

In the United States, the Bayer USA Foundation supports local charitable organizations in the communities near the company’s sites, providing total funding of us$5.6 million in 2008 for such projects. These included the WomenHeart initiative, which aims to improve the health and quality of life of women WHO have had heart attacks or are at risk of heart disease. Together with Bayer Consumer Care, the Bayer USA Foundation supported the initiative in its educational and informational work to promote the avoidance, early diagnosis and correct treatment of heart disease with a donation of US$100,000. A further US$100,000 went towards supporting “The Wellness Company” in establishing a research and training institute on the subject of cancer. The institute is to focus on the psychological and social care of patients and their families.

Bayer is also committed to improving health care worldwide. For example, we have worked closely for many years with the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide effective treatment for dangerous diseases such as sleeping sickness in Africa and Chagas’ disease in Latin America. For further information on our health care activities, see our Focus Issue Medicine.

A long tradition of cultural affairs and sports promotion

Cultural affairs have been a central element of Bayer’s corporate social responsibility since 1907. The company’s Cultural Affairs Department provides a diverse and sophisticated program in the areas of music, theater, dance and the fine arts. In 2008, some 60,000 people attended events organized by Bayer’s Cultural Affairs Department or participated in the 17 Bayer cultural societies and ensembles. At the first benefit concert of the Bayer Philharmonic Orchestra in November 2008 in Leverkusen, the musicians themselves performed for a good cause. They waived their performance fees on behalf of the initiative “Leverkusen helps children with cancer.” Bayer then matched the evening’s proceeds and donated €36,000 to the charity.

Bayer is a well-known supporter of recreational, youth and disabled sports. In 2008, we provided funding of more than €14 million to 27 company sports clubs. 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. In addition, a total of 21 Bayer athletes took part in the 29th Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. At both tournaments, TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen provided the largest contingent of athletes of any club in Germany.

Systematic monitoring safeguards sustainability

Since 2006, Bayer has been systematically reporting its global corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. All activities implemented in the four supported focus areas are reported to a central unit in the Group via the country companies and the responsible functions in the holding company, the subgroups and the service companies. To ensure that our social commitment is aligned and controlled in a uniform way, the organizational units responsible for implementation monitor the success of the measures concerned.

In addition, the alignment of our social commitment is governed by a Group directive on donations, which lays down binding regulations for the whole Group on the content and handling of charitable contributions.