Sustainability
Efficient climate protection requires global commitment. As an internationally active company, we engage in many ways.
The Paris Agreement, a global climate protection accord adopted at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 21, entered into force on November 4, 2016. Ahead of the Paris meeting, BASF had called repeatedly for an ambitious global agreement that reflects the long-term objective of limiting global warming to below 2°C. We welcome and support all steps required for a swift and effective implementation of the agreement.
The G20 states emit around three-quarters of global CO2 emissions and therefore play a significant role in the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. In the context of Germany’s G20 presidency a task force of the Business 20 (company representatives of the 20 states) chaired by Kurt Bock, former Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, has prepared recommendations on energy, climate and resource efficiency for policymakers. During the Argentinian presidency of the G20/B20 process in 2018, BASF co-chaired the task force on Energy, Climate & Resource Efficiency and Sustainability and advocated intensively for ambitious global climate action in this context. The most recent recommendations of the task force were handed over to the G20 in October 2018.
BASF has been a member of the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, a coalition of CEOs under the auspices of the World Economic Forum since 2017. The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders calls for more corporate engagement to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement.
BASF is a founding member of the CEO Climate Dialogue (CCD), a group of leading companies and NGOs working together to advance a market-based approach to climate change policy in the United States that adheres to six Guiding Principles.
BASF is a member of the WBCSD and supports the "Climate Action and Policy" project to promote the development of effective global climate protection mechanisms by the interaction of business and political efforts.
BASF has signed the Paris Pledge for Action supported by more than 800 non-state actors. The signatories welcome that a new, universal climate agreement has been adopted at COP 21. The pledge affirms the signatories’ strong commitment to a safe and stable climate in which temperature rise is limited to under 2 degrees Celsius and their support to ensuring that the level of ambition set by the agreement is met or exceeded.
In an open letter published within the UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO study "A call to climate action", Kurt Bock, CEO of BASF, stressed the importance of a reliable global emission reduction framework as a basis for innovation and investments in future low-carbon technologies.
BASF is supporting an initiative of the French business associations MEDEF, Afep and Cercle de l'Industrie asking for adoption of an ambitious agreement. Together with BASF more than 60 international companies and organizations have committed to support the initiative. Key proposals are:
In an open letter BASF and 19 other leading chemical companies in Europe have backed an ambitious and legally-binding global climate change agreement at COP 21. The letter is stressing the key role of innovations in the chemical sector for climate protection and calls to accommodate Europe’s climate policy leadership position with global competitiveness.