Sustainability

Our Human Rights Approach

Human Rights protect each and every person’s dignity. Respecting Human Rights in our own operations and business relationships is the foundation of our social responsibility. We value people and treat them with respect.

Respecting Human Rights reaches far beyond compliance issues.

Dr. Martin Brudermüller

CEO of BASF SE

Wholeheartedly we embrace the task to respect Human Rights and the chance to promote them. As founding member of the United Nations Global Compact, BASF is inspired by and supports the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and respective national equivalents.

As an internationally operating company, we are integral part of many societies world-wide and engage with thousands of trusted business partners around the globe. The following overview provides transparency about our Human Rights approach.

Please click on the categories below to learn more about how we take on our responsibility for Human Rights:

Considering that states have the duty to protect Human Rights, we commit to respect Human Rights in our operations and embrace the responsibility to foster respect for Human Rights in relationships with our business partners along the value chain, with neighbours in communities, and in the application of our products. Against this backdrop, we recognize the internationally agreed-upon standards.

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We have systematically integrated Human Rights assessments into our corporate processes for governance and decision-making, e.g. for investments in sites, plants, equipment, and financial assets. We seek to identify and prevent potential adverse Human Rights impacts of our operations.

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We embed our commitment to respect Human Rights in our daily operations and for all business functions. We encourage and foster open dialogue with all our stakeholders to develop a mutual understanding of relevant topics, to allow for a meaningful consultation, and to raise awareness. We connect to create value in societies. In a collaborative way, we strive to reduce negative and to optimize positive effects.

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We are confronted by the fact that there are states that do not honor their obligation to protect human rights. Whenever we are confronted with actual or potential Human Rights violations in our value chain, we engage to get an insight into the proceedings.

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We offer worldwide operational-level grievance and/or complaint mechanisms for own employees, partners, and the public affected by our operations. We take on critical questions and listen to all grievances. We ensure that all concerns that are brought forward to us are addressed. We strive for appropriate remediation by the responsible party.

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We take advice from external experts, e.g. in our independent Human Rights Advisory Council, where international thought leaders from academia and civil society contribute their perspectives. The HRAC is led by our Chief Compliance Officer.

Margaret Jungk who worked for the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and Business for Social Responsibility served as our external Human Rights expert.

In the Stakeholder Advisory Council, we intensively discussed BASF’s new Human Rights approach and salient Human Rights risks. Without any doubt, this is an ongoing process due to the complexity of the issue, especially with regard to long value chains and different cultural contexts and laws. However, we are happy to see the progress made so far, starting with BASF’s new Group Position on Human Rights.

Margaret Jungk

Human Rights expert

Review the panel discussion about “Quo vadis, Smart Mix? Perspectives on mandatory human rights due diligence from Germany and the EU” at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, June 2021.

Watch the session here

Download BASF Group’s Position on Human Rights as approved by the Board of Executive Directors here.

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