BAYER ΕΛΛΑΣ ΑΒΕΕ

1. Strategic, Analysis & Action

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Sustainability is anchored at the core of our strategy, our operations and our normative basis on how we run our businesses. Our businesses promote sustainable development and, in so doing, impact society and open up growth opportunities for our company. The Group’s focus on sustainability is founded in responsible business practices, in which the principles of Bayer Societal Engagement (BASE) play a pivotal role. An independent, externally staffed Sustainability Council advises the company on all sustainability matters. Compliance (e.g. anti-corruption, responsible marketing), HR policy, product stewardship (established Pharmacovigilance department – Quality control for Crop protection products), environmental protection, health, safety and supplier management are core areas of activities for us in our endeavors to recognize risks at an early stage and minimize them.

As a global life science enterprise, we are exposed to a wide range of internal and external developments and events that could significantly impact the achievement of our financial and nonfinancial objectives. Opportunity and risk management is therefore an integral part of corporate management at Bayer.

We have implemented a holistic and integrated risk management system designed to ensure the continued existence and future target attainment of the Group through the early identification, assessment and treatment of risks. Our risk management system is aligned to internationally recognized standards and principles such as the ISO 31000 standard of the International Organization for Standardization.

Τhe pandemic is a setback for sustainable development. In addition to the health risks, the fight against hunger and inequality throughout the world has been massively impeded by COVID-19. Nevertheless, the major issues of climate change and the growing world population are still given the priority they deserve. The topic of sustainability was only briefly superseded by COVID-19 and remains at the top of the global agenda. Experts agree that the recovery following the pan-demic must take into account the ecological limits of the planet.

Sustainability: a growth driver We reach millions of people worldwide with our products and services. We invest significantly in inclusive growth to facilitate a better life for more people – a life marked by good nutrition and health. To achieve this, we have set ourselves targets with regard to access to health care, food security, support for smallholder farmers and women’s empowerment. At the same time, we are reducing our ecological footprint throughout our entire value chain – from our suppliers to our own production and the use of our products by consumers, patients and farmers. Here we have set ourselves targets related to decarbonization, conserving biodiversity and further reducing environmental impact. We hope that what is good for people and the environment will also be good for our company: We view sustainability as a growth driver for our business. In line with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, we have established ambitious targets and want to be judged in the future on how effectively we attain them.

Enabling a better life for more people. Four billion people today have no access to basic health care, while three-quarters of a billion suffer from hunger. We want to help change that. More than nearly any other company, we can help to improve people’s health and safeguard good nutrition for the growing world population.

Reducing the ecological footprint. We help to protect the health of people, animals and plants, and to conserve ecosystems. Our climate protection target corresponds to the objective of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It was confirmed by the Science Based Targets initiative in summer 2020. We will also be a climate-neutral company by 2030. As a signatory to the Business Ambition for 1.5oC initiative, we want to attain net zero emissions in our entire value chain by 2050. Our climate strategy comprises wide-ranging measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within our company and along our entire value chain.

Steering and living sustainability. Sustainability is an essential part of our business strategy and is currently being integrated into all our key processes so that we can perform our activities in an even more responsible and future-oriented way.

For Bayer, 2020 was the first year of our new sustainability strategy, with which we have set ambitious social and ecological targets aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Bayer’s entrepreneurial and social responsibility go hand in hand. We want to make a key contribution to the SDGs with our businesses – guided by the principles of the U.N. Global Compact and in keeping with our vision “Health for all, hunger for none.”

In the implementation of our sustainability strategy, we are focusing on transparency and continuity. We say what we do, and we do what we say. Above all, however, we regard sustainability not as an additional activity, but rather as a core element of our strategic and normative alignment. 

As a Group, we follow:

ISO 26000,

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),

Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),

10 principles of the U.N. Global Compact (UNGC),

SASB

Industry Standards relevant to us “Biotechnology & Pharma-ceuticals,” “Chemicals” and “Agricultural Products”, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), international recommendations and guidelines of the OECD

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 (p.5-15) 

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2. Materiality

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

The challenges of the future are considerable: Climate change, loss of biodiversity, extreme weather conditions and water crises are seen as global risks of our time. They are of special consequence for Bayer’s business of health and nutrition. Yet they also harbor tremendous opportunities to help bring about a turnaround worldwide with our activities and our products, positively impact people’s lives and achieve growth with sustainable businesses. Society, politicians, and investors are making an urgent appeal to take action that goes beyond mere risk minimization. They expect innovative, sustainable products and solutions to help people and the environment. They are voicing these demands with growing urgency and increasing vehemence. Our customers too demand sustainable action from us and pass on to us consumer expectations as regards environmental protection, ethical conduct, and social needs.

We have a particular responsibility We know that the size of our business alone means we must and can make a significant contribution to sustainable development. We also know that our industries, especially the agriculture sector, are among the causes of the described challenges. At the same time, we believe our activities here have great potential for offering sustainable approaches. With innovative products and services, as well as the will to develop resilient and future-oriented business models, we are going back to our roots: Our purpose “Science for a better life” guides our actions to help achieve a high quality of life on a healthy planet. To this end, we are driving forward science and innovation. We develop solutions that address the most significant ecological and social challenges and needs to attain our vision “Health for all, hunger for none.”

We determine the expectations and requirements of the various stakeholders using a materiality analysis that surveys global representatives of important stakeholder groups, managerial staff and nonmanagerial employees. The results thereof reveal relevant issues, the latest developments, along with sustainability-related opportunities and risks, and help us to assess them accordingly. The survey of external stakeholders also reflects how our sustainability performance is perceived, which enables us to identify weaknesses and areas for improvement.

At the next stage, Bayer managers supplement the assessment of issues of relevance from an external perspective with an estimation of the impact the company has on the environment, employees and health in each respective topic area. Finally, the issues prioritized on this basis are approved by the Board of Management.

The materiality analysis serves to meet external requirements in accordance with the CSR Directive Implementation Act (CSR-RUG), the German Commercial Code (Sections 289b to e) and the GRI Standards.

In accordance with the GRI Standards, the following two dimensions were among the factors applied for the identification and prioritization of key issues:

// Impact of Bayer’s business operations on economic, social or environmental matters

// Impact on decisions by Bayer stakeholders

The results of the internal and external viewpoint survey were combined in a materiality matrix.

The areas of activity in the current materiality analysis are accounted for in our sustainability strategy and determine the focal points of our sustainability management approach and our nonfinancial Group targets.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 Chapter 2.9 (p. 228)

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3. Objectives

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

We have defined clear targets for our businesses that we are aiming to achieve by 2030, in line with the UN SDG, in order to help people, thrive and to reduce our ecological footprint.

• help 100 million small holder farmers in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) to produce enough quality food for themselves and others.
• enable 100 million people in underserved communities to access everyday health.
• provide 100 million women in low- and middle-income countries with access to modern contraception.
• decarbonize and a net zero target including our supply chain for 2050. We are looking to achieve this with an absolute reduction of 42 percent in our emissions (scope 1 and 2) by 2030. We included making our own sites climate-neutral in our Group targets to be met by 2030
• By 2030, the remaining emissions will be fully offset by purchasing certificates from verified climate protection projects, especially in the areas of forest conservation and agriculture. When selecting projects, we pay particular attention to ensuring they enable long-term CO2 capture (permanence) and would not take place without the sale of certificates (additionality). Furthermore, we have introduced additional in-house quality requirements, such as certifying projects according to internationally recognized standards.
• Bayer products and services are also linked to emissions that are generated before and after the company’s activities, for instance in the supply chain or by customers (scope 3 emissions). In this case, the SBTi has confirmed that Bayer is helping to limit global warming to a 2 °C scenario, with CO2 emissions to be reduced by at least 12.3 percent in 2029 compared to the 2019 baseline. Given the very large number of suppliers, the 12.3 percent reduction in emissions attributed to the supply chain and/or customers poses a similar challenge to the 42 percent reduction for in-house emissions.

We implement a number of measures focusing on energy efficiency, energy sources, offsetting and the value chain. Between 2020 and 2030, we will be investing EUR 500 million to improve energy efficiency in our own plants.

The Board of Management uses defined, primarily nonfinancial targets and key performance indicators to steer the company’s sustainable orientation.

The Sustainability Council advises the Board of Management in the further development of its business strategy as regards sustainability and with respect to what contribution research and development can make to sustainability. The contributions of the Sustainability Council inform our strategic planning going forward. It will also independently examine the progress made by Bayer in the implementation of its sustainability targets.

In Greece as a small country without our own production, we only follow the global goals determined by the HQ.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 (Sustainability strategy p.15)

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4. Management of Value Chain

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

By delivering innovative products and solutions, Bayer creates value for its stakeholders at all stages of the value chain. We operate production sites worldwide, invest in re-search and development, work with international and local suppliers and contribute to the economic development of our target markets. As an employer, we provide jobs in industrialized, emerging and developing economies and there-fore create purchasing power through the salaries we pay. We contribute to public finances and thus support public infrastructure through the payment of taxes and other levies.

We define value added as the company’s total operating performance in the previous fiscal year (net sales + other operating income + financial income + net income/loss from investments accounted for using the equity method) less the costs of procured and consumed goods and services, depreciation, amortization, impairment losses and impairment loss reversals.

Our total operating performance amounted to €46.2 billion in 2021. The cost of materials and other expenses totaled €27.8 billion. We recorded depreciation, amortization, impairment losses and impairment loss reversals of €3.1 billion. We posted a value added of €15.3 billion in 2021. In 2021, the value added we generated enabled us to make the following financial contributions to our stakeholders: employees €11.8 billion, taxes €1.8 billion, providers of equity and debt €1.3 billion and stockholders €2 billion (Bayer AG dividend proposal for 2021).

On-going dialogue with our stakeholders is particularly important to us. This dialogue helps us to recognize important trends and developments in society and our markets at an early stage and take this information into account when shaping our business.

Assuming responsibility for our products, from medicines to complex solutions for agriculture, is always at the core of what we do. For us, product stewardship means that our products satisfy the highest quality standards and are safe for people, animals and the environment when properly used. Not only do the desired properties of substances and products need to be taken into consideration but also the possible risks for people and the environment. We respect legal requirements, and our voluntary commitment and internal standards go beyond these in a variety of areas. 

Also, clear, sustainability-oriented criteria and standards apply to our supply chain at both a global and regional level. A four-step process is established throughout the company to improve sustainability practices in the supply chain.

This process is centrally steered by the Sustainability unit in Procurement. It is implemented through cross-functional co-operation between the Procurement; Health, Safety & Environment; and Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability enabling functions.

We use targeted measures to train our procurement employees in our sustainability requirements. In 2021 we conducted advanced training on our new sustainability focus topics

Step 1: Raising awareness

The core principles of our sustainability requirements are established in Bayer’s Supplier Code of Conduct, which is based on our Bayer Human Rights Policy, the principles of the U.N. Global Compact and the core labor standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The code is available in 12 languages and covers the areas of ethics, relations with employees and other stakeholders (including hu-man rights), health, safety, environment and quality, and governance and management systems. In our Supplier Code of Conduct, we state that complaints and (compliance) violations can be reported – anonymously if desired – via a central compliance hotline set up by Bayer that is available worldwide (for more information, please see Chapter 2.5 Compliance). Additionally, we expect our suppliers to make an adequate complaint mechanism available to their stakeholders.

The code is applied in the selection and evaluation of our suppliers and is integrated into electronic ordering systems throughout the Bayer Group, including Bayer Hellas.

Step 2: Selecting suppliers for evaluation

Each year, Bayer systematically selects suppliers from around the globe (Greece included) whose observance of the code requirements needs to be reviewed through an online assessment or an audit. The first step is to identify all suppliers of strategic relevance to Bayer who must automatically undergo a sustainability evaluation.

In the second step, Bayer gives a sustainability risk classification to any remaining suppliers representing a significant annual procurement spend of more than €0.5 million.

The procurement organization examines the suppliers identified in these two steps and selects the final suppliers requiring evaluation. In 2021, this selection process yielded 270strategically important suppliers making up nearly 7% of the total procurement spend, and 320 suppliers with an increased sustainability risk and a significant procurement spend (> €0.5 million p.a.). 

Step 3: Evaluating sustainability performance

Bayer verifies the observance of the code requirements by the suppliers selected in Step 2 by means of EcoVadis online assessments or through on-site audits or, during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual audits conducted by both external and Bayer auditors. The online assessment criteria of EcoVadis – broken down into the areas of environment, ethics, labor practices and human rights, and sustainable procurement – correspond to the requirements of our code and also take into account country- and industry-specific conditions and supplier size. In total, our service provider EcoVadis assessed 670 suppliers on our behalf in 2020.

In 2021, we also arranged for 67 (2020 26) of our suppliers to be audited on site by external, independent auditors. In addition, ten suppliers were audited virtually due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

The audit criteria included both the specifications of our code and the industry-specific requirements of the TfS and PSCI industry initiatives

Step 4: Developing suppliers

The online assessments and on-site audits are analyzed and documented so that specific improvement measures can be defined. In 2020, suppliers who had undergone online assessments by EcoVadis demonstrated the need for improvement in particular in the categories of ethics and the environment, while those who had been audited required improvement in occupational health and safety.

A supplier receives a critical result if a serious violation or several major findings in sustainability performance are identified. In these cases, Bayer requests that the suppliers remedy the identified weaknesses within an appropriate timeframe based on specific action plans. In 2021, suppliers who had undergone online assessments by EcoVadis demonstrated the need for improvement in particular in the categories of ethics and sustainable procurement, while those who had been audited required improvement in occupational health and safety. A supplier receives a critical result if one or more serious violations or several major findings in the implementation of sustainability aspects are identified. In these cases, Bayer requests that the suppliers remedy the identified weaknesses within an appropriate timeframe based on specific action plans. In 2021, this applied to 22 suppliers (3% assessed and audited suppliers; 2020: 2% (13)).

We monitor the implementation of these activities by way of reassessments or follow-up audits. Bayer retains the right to terminate a supplier relationship if no improvement is observed during a re-evaluation. In 2021, Bayer was not  prompted to end any supplier relationship due solely to sustainability performance. However, we implemented measures to reduce business with suppliers who were not able to improve their sustainability performance.

Our monthly monitoring shows that 508 (2020: 357) of the 879 (2020: 701) Bayer suppliers evaluated in 2021 improved their sustainability performance. A key factor in this collaboration is helping our suppliers to improve their sustainability performance. Here we focus both on remedying deficiencies and on collaborating on sustainability topics.

Our value chain in Greece consists of:

• Pharmaceuticals: Distributor (FAMAR) - Drugstores - Pharmacies - Consumers -Employees in sales/marketing department & medical department - Health Professionals: training/ensuring the correct administration of the products prescribed
• Consumer health: Distributor (FAMAR) - Drugstores - Pharmacies - Consumers
• Crop Science: Distributor - Agricultural stores - Producers / Technical consultants of the company (agronomists): training of agronomists in the proper use of products and producers in sustainable agricultural practices.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 chapter 1 p.19, chapter 3 p.39-59, chapter 4 p.64-68.

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5. Responsibility

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

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6. Rules & Processes

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Bayer is committed to responsible corporate governance. By adhering to laws, safeguarding values and strengthening our reputation, we aim to secure our company’s long-term success and to foster a high level of trust among all stakeholders. Our endeavors in this regard are further supported by our increased focus on sustainability aspects in all processes and at all levels of the company.

Corporate Governance Practices and Principles

Corporate governance practices that go beyond the legal requirements are derived from our vision and our common values, which form the basis for the respectful working relationship among our employees and with our external partners. Compliance with responsible practices at every stage of the value chain is crucial in corporate governance. The main guidelines are summarized primarily in our corporate policies on compliance, human rights, and fairness and respect at work, as well as in our Supplier Code of Conduct and the Bayer Societal Engagement (BASE) principles. The organization and oversight obligations of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board are mainly ensured by compliance management and risk management systems.

In our Annual Report, we report in detail on the main elements of the Bayer Group’s corporate governance structures and conformity with the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code, relevant corporate governance practices, the composition and procedures of the Board of Management, the Supervisory Board and their committees, and the Compensation Report along with the objectives to be defined and the underlying concepts.

Our Ethical Principles (BASE)

As a leading health care and agriculture company, we bear a great responsibility. To ensure that we meet current societal expectations, we introduced the Bayer Societal Engagement (BASE) principles in 2019. Set out in a publicly available corporate policy, these principles establish how we interact worldwide not just with our employees, but also with patients, customers, consumers, business partners, political stakeholders, scientists, critics and our stockholders. In this way, we want to live up to our social responsibility as a sustainably acting and transparent company that is respected for its contribution to progress in health care and agriculture. We want to listen, understand, take concerns seriously and engage in respectful dialogue – especially where this is difficult or uncomfortable.

The BASE principles are grounded in our purpose “Science for a better life,” our vision “Health for all, hunger for none” and the Bayer LIFE values of leadership, integrity, flexibility and efficiency. The principles describe our actions in eight areas:

• Our engagement with society
• Our guiding principles and core values
• How we drive innovation
• How we act in the workplace
• How we conduct our business
• How we interact with our customers, patients and the consumers of our products
• How we interact with media, legislators, regulators and civil society organizations
• How we interact with shareholders

Transparency

As our products and activities concern the sensitive areas of health and nutrition, they lead to inquiries and the desire to understand what we do. Against this background, we endeavor to build and strengthen trust – for which transparent conduct is essential. For example, we disclose information from various areas of our work and openly communicate how the safety of our products is assessed.

Steering and Management Systems

Planning and steering

The Board of Management uses defined, primarily nonfinancial targets and key performance indicators to steer the company’s sustainable orientation.

Integrated management system

Bayer maintains an integrated management system (IMS) comprising process management, management of internal regulations, effectiveness testing and continuous improvement. All of the requirements are specified in a corporate policy. The IMS provides a framework for all management systems at Bayer, ensuring compliance with the law and with internal and external requirements while also ensuring efficient ways of working. This is achieved through internal regulations and applicable processes involving clear roles and responsibilities. As such, it facilitates effective risk management and helps to safeguard the company’s license to operate.

Within the IMS, each organizational unit is responsible for ensuring that its own management system is in line with business needs and with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

As part of the IMS, Bayer has established a clearly defined set of rules, which includes fundamental principles and framework conditions, standards of conduct, guidelines and methods. Moreover, these are binding requirements that include legal and regulatory requirements.

Our binding internal regulations at Group level serve as key management instruments and are classified in three categories: corporate policies (highest importance covering global interdisciplinary content, and relevant for all employees), corporate directives and procedures.

Compliance

Bayer manages its businesses responsibly and in compliance with the statutory requirements and regulations of the countries in which it operates. We define compliance as legally and ethically impeccable conduct by all employees in their daily work, because the way they each carry out their duties affects our company’s reputation. Compliance is essential for our long-term commercial success.

The Board of Management is unreservedly committed to compliance, and Bayer will forgo any business transaction that would violate any of the 10 principles in our Corporate Compliance Policy observed throughout the Bayer Group. These principles are as follows:

• We compete fairly in every market.
• We act with integrity in all our business dealings.
• We balance economic growth with ecological and social responsibility.
• We observe trade controls that regulate our global business.
• We safeguard equal opportunity in securities trading.
• We keep accurate books and records.
• We treat each other with fairness and respect.
• We protect and respect intellectual property rights.
• We act in Bayer’s best interest.
• We protect and secure personal data.

All employees are required to observe the compliance principles and to immediately report any violation of the Corporate Compliance Policy. Infringements are sanctioned. Compliant and lawful conduct is also factored into the performance evaluations of all managerial employees.

The global compliance management system is steered by a central compliance organization within the Bayer Group. Within the compliance organization, specialized compliance managers are responsible for establishing business-, industry- and country-specific standards.

Adherence to the corporate compliance principles is among the subjects covered in audits conducted by Bayer’s Internal Audit and in the analyses and investigations by the legal and compliance organization. The heads of these organizations provide regular reports on the findings of the audits and analyses to the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board, while summary reports are presented at least once a year.

A total of 89 audit reports were compiled in 2021, of which 12concerned preventive compliance system audits or incident-related investigations.

Suspected compliance violations can be reported – anonymously if desired and if permitted by respective national law – to a central, worldwide compliance hotline that is also accessible to the general public. In 2021, the compliance organization received a total of 299reports in this way.

The action taken depends on factors including the gravity of the violation and applicable law.

Compliance training and communications activities

We support all employees in acting with integrity and proactively avoiding potential violations by implementing Bayer-wide training measures and communication campaigns that are tailored to target groups and based on identified needs. The Corporate Compliance Policy forms the basis of our compliance communication and training activities.

In 2021, around 95% (39853) of Bayer’s managerial employees worldwide completed at least one compliance training program.

We launched a new web-based training program in 94 countries dealing with the topic of data privacy, which is also addressed in our Corporate Compliance Policy. The web-based training program is available in 20 languages and had been completed by around 90.2% (92,597) of our employees as of December 31, 2021. Our annual, company-wide “Speak Up” campaign to foster an open reporting culture communicates the various options for reporting compliance violations. This is designed to create an environment in which compliance violations can be addressed without reservations.

Data privacy

Data is very important in today’s world – it is often accessible worldwide and its financial value is growing. As a result, people have an increasing interest in their data remaining secure. Bayer is committed to protecting the personal data of all its stakeholders, be they employees, business partners, stockholders, suppliers or customers. Fulfilling this commitment is an important business principle and a central condition for the company’s success.

Since there is no globally binding data privacy law, legislation varies widely from country to country.

The Data Privacy corporate policy sets out minimum requirements for the way personal data is processed throughout the Bayer Group.

The data privacy management system covers the entire data life cycle: from collection, trans-fer, analysis and storage to deletion. Training and guidance along with system-based monitoring ensure the regulations are adhered to.

Marketing compliance and the validity of recognized standards

We do not tolerate any improper exertion of influence on our business partners. As part of our compliance management system, we record and investigate any suspected violation of our responsible marketing principles, irrespective of whether the complaints come from internal or external sources.

All codes of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) serve as a binding minimum global standard for all of Bayer’s human pharmaceutical products in their area of application. In addition, Bayer observes the codes of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) in its interaction with health care professionals and patient organizations. Regarding the advertising of human pharmaceutical products, Bayer complies with the regulations set out in the IFPMA Code of Practice as the minimum global standard along with those set forth in regional and national codes.

In line with the principles of sustainable development and the responsible use of crop protection products and seeds, Crop Science follows the guidelines of its Product Stewardship Commitment, Principles and Key Requirements. This policy, which also satisfies our rules of conduct for responsible marketing, is based on the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the International Code of Conduct on Plant Biotechnology is-sued by CropLife International.

Relevant training measures on product-related communication, antitrust law, data protection and anti-corruption are fundamental elements of our compliance management system. In addition to explaining general compliance principles, the anti-corruption courses provide specific advice on approaches to nonreciprocal benefits and the ex-change of services with health care professionals.

Risk Management

We have implemented a holistic and integrated risk management system designed to ensure the continued existence and future target attainment of the Group through the early identification, assessment and treatment of risks. Our risk management system is aligned to internationally recognized standards and principles such as the ISO 31000 standard of the International Organization for Standardization.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 (Chapter 2 p26-27)

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

At Bayer we firmly believe that compliance is our license to operate worldwide. We all share the aim of providing people with innovative solutions that improve the quality of life. The Corporate Compliance Policy outlines Bayer’s principles of business conduct. We take pride in doing things right. Each day we need to exercise good judgment, act with integrity, and observe the principles of our policy.

Below you’ll find a summary of our ten compliance principles and the entire policy for download:

1. We compete fairly in every market.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer competes on the merits of its products and services and firmly supports the existence of free and open markets. We strictly adhere to the laws designed to promote and protect competition. (example: Bayer's Supplier Management)

2. We act with integrity in all our business dealings.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer does not tolerate corruption and will refuse any business opportunity that involves any form of bribery and it is always aligned with the respective Code of Ethics applying in each industry (example: SfEE Code of Ethics, EFEX Code of ethics)

3. We balance economic growth with ecological and social responsibility.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer endeavors to develop, produce and sell products in a safe and sustainable way that meets the needs of our employees, customers and society, and protects the environment (Examples: Bayer's Position on Human - Environmental Protection at Bayer)

4. We observe trade controls that regulate our global business.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer supports national and international initiatives that aim to prevent the misuse of its goods or technologies as nuclear, biological or chemical weapons or in the spread of terrorism or war.

5. We safeguard equal opportunity in securities trading.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer promotes open, fair and efficient financial markets by protecting its non-public information from unintended disclosure and misuse.

6. We keep accurate books and records.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer fully and accurately records its business activities and financial transactions to provide a fair and complete picture of its operations, assets and financial condition.

7. We treat each other with fairness and respect.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer strives to create the best environment for employees to perform, innovate and develop.

8. We protect and respect intellectual property rights.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer safeguards the value of its research and development efforts and the goodwill and reputation of the company and its brands. Bayer also accepts the valid right of others to be the same.

9. We act in Bayer’s best interest.

• • OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer employees are careful to separate their own personal interests from those of Bayer.

10. We protect and secure personal data.

• OUR COMMITMENT: Bayer strictly adheres to the laws designed to protect and secure the privacy and confidentiality of information about individuals. This includes personal, health, family financial and similar information (Example Privacy Statement)
  
  

Certification to external standards

ISO 14001 certification/EMAS validation

ISO 45001 certification/OHSAS 18001

ISO 50001 certification

Locally, the company follows international standards, such as ISO 2001. Also, at Bayer Hellas there is a specific policy for the management of Health, Safety and the Environment, which describes the methods of operation, evaluation and protection of these three factors. Based on this policy, the monthly recording of cases is done.

1. Bayer Hellas implements a Quality Management System for Pharmaceutical and Consumer Health divisions in accordance to Good Distribution Practices (GDPs) as defined by Corporate standards.
2. Bayer Hellas is in compliance and follows the ISO 9001:2015, ISO 13485:2016 requirements for the distribution of the medical devices for Radiology's division activities.
3. Bayer Hellas implements the requirements of the local regulation 1348/04 (GDPs for Medical devices).
   
   

Compliance with industry codes and international standards is monitored through internal audits by Bayer AG, PwC certified public accountants and TuV Quality Control, in an annual basisi.

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7. Monitoring

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

We have defined sustainability indicators to measure progress in the attainment of our Group targets. They help increase the transparency of our efforts and make it easier to steer them. Our “sustainability cockpit” brings together key data in one place and facilitates decision-making by the management. The data is compiled in the countries and centrally validated. At the same time, the cockpit will enable accurate yearly reporting on the new sustainability indicators – because that is the commitment we have made. 

At Bayer we have been aligned to the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the 10 principles of the U.N. Global Compact (UNGC) since 2000.

For the first time we also take into account the relevant requirements of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). A summarized index according to the three SASB Industry Standards relevant to us “Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals,” “Chemicals” and “Agricultural Products” can be found on our website. In our climate reporting we follow the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and publish a separate index in PDF format also on our website.

We also use, for example, the international recommendations and guidelines of the OECD and ISO 26000 as a guide when defining and selecting nonfinancial indicators and in our reporting. In selecting and measuring our key data, we take into account the recommendations of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and those of the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) and the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) with respect to other nonfinancial indicators. 

We also participate in The Access to Medicine Index that evaluates the companies’ measures to make medicines and diagnosis more easily accessible to people in low- and middle-in-come countries (LMICs). Bayer is currently in 13th position. 

Bayer aims to provide transparent and in-depth insights into both its sustainability strategy and its sustainability performance. Therefore, we are systematically issuing a sustainability report. 

The selection of reported content is based on the results of our materiality analysis and the requirements of the GRI Standards. HR and HSE (health, safety and environment) indicators and our social data are given for continuing operations unless otherwise explicitly indicated.

Bayer maintains an integrated management system (IMS) comprising process management, management of internal regulations, effectiveness testing and continuous improvement. The IMS provides a framework for all management systems at Bayer, ensuring compliance with the law and with internal and external requirements while also ensuring efficient ways of working.

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8. Incentive and reward systems for Sustainable Development

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Living wages

Bayer compensates employees on both permanent and temporary employment contracts in excess of the statutory minimum wage in the respective countries, paying at least a living wage that is annually reviewed and specified worldwide by the nonprofit organization Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). This also applies to part-time employees whose compensation was proportionately aligned with that of a full-time position.  For Greece, τhe payment of living wages is implemented at the country level and re-viewed each year by the HR enabling function to ensure that the requirements of the BSR are observed through-out the Group.

Compensation

At Bayer, individual salaries are based on each employee’s personal and professional abilities and the level of responsibility assigned to them. At the managerial level, this is based on a uniform evaluation approach for all positions through-out the Group using the internationally recognized Hay method. In areas of the Bayer Group and jobs covered by a binding collective bargaining agreement, there are no differences in pay based on gender. In the emerging markets and developing countries, compensation levels are aligned to local market conditions.

The Board of Management uses defined, primarily nonfinancial targets and key performance indicators to steer the company’s sustainable orientation. In 2019, the Board of Management adopted an advanced sustainability strategy along with new nonfinancial Group targets and key performance indicators (see also the Sustainability Strategy section). In 2020, the corresponding framework was translated into specific targets for the individual divisions. Nonfinancial Group targets are now integrated into the Bayer Group’s planning and steering process as management and key performance indicators.

Our Group-wide sustainability targets are integrated into the compensation system for the Board of Management. In so doing, we aim to continuously increase value for stockholders and other stakeholders and ensure the continuity of our company for the long term. For 2020, qualitative nonfinancial targets derived from the sustainability strategy were incorporated into the short-term variable compensation of the Board of Management. From 2021, quantitative targets derived from the sustainability strategy will be integrated into the long-term variable compensation of the Board of Management with a weighting of 20%.

Dialogue and exchange

Our employees have the opportunity to discuss company-specific topics and scope for optimization via various communication channels. We actively involve our employees in business processes by offering the opportunity for dialogue. Informing staff in a timely manner and comprehensively about upcoming changes, in compliance with the applicable national and international regulations, is very important to us. 

Employees both locally and internationally can submit their proposals through the international platform we Solve, as well as through the Bayer Foundation for Social Innovation competitions. The suggestions of the employees are evaluated by the coordination group DEBayTE (Devoted BAYer Team), which also coordinates the implementation of the necessary actions. 

In addition, the Youth advisory Board has been established with 5 members age under 35 years, to consulting Country Leadership Team in areas of benefits towards employees and social responsibility activities 

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 202  chapter 6  (p. 78)

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9. Stakeholder Engagement

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

As a company, Bayer is part of society and public life. On-going dialogue with our stakeholders is therefore particularly important to us. After all, their expectations and viewpoints affect our public acceptance and thus our commercial success. This is also reflected in our BASE principles (see also Chapter 2.2 Our Ethical Principles [BASE]).

We fundamentally distinguish four stakeholder groups with which we engage in discussions on different issues.

Stakeholder Groups

This dialogue helps us to recognize important trends and developments in society and our markets at an early stage and take this information into account when shaping our business. The integration of various stakeholder groups is planned within the scope of our stakeholder engagement process. This process also includes an evaluation of the results of individual dialogue measures.

In strategic decision-making processes such as investment projects and product launches, Bayer approaches key social and political players right from the start of a new project to canvass their support. Such open dialogue enables us to identify opportunities and risks early on. This process is in line with our Stakeholder Engagement Guideline and is supplemented by an internal information platform.

Our regular stakeholder activities range from dialogue at the local, national and international level and active involvement in committees and specialist workshops all the way through to comprehensive information programs, issue-related multi-stakeholder events and participation in international initiatives and collaborations. 

In Greece, Stakeholders include: 

Communication Channels

BayerNet (Intranet & Employees MS Teams)

Corporate website

Conferences

Open communication portal through [email protected]

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Focus on a variety of stakeholders

The selected topics described below provide insights into our engagement with respect to our most important stake-holder groups.

Throughout the last year, we held intensive discussions with journalists and politicians, scientists and supervisory authorities, consumers and shareholders, civil society organizations, farmers and neighbors. We not only discussed topics such as agriculture and nutrition, climate change and biodiversity, but also combating poverty and family planning. Examples include our virtual event series Future of Farming Dialogue, the World Food Convention about food security, the Sustainable Investor Summit, which included the topic of sustainable agriculture, the EURACTIV Conference on Transparency in EU Policymaking, including in relation to glyphosate, the 18th International Dialogue on Population and Sustainable Development on ensuring the right to sexual and reproductive self-determination during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Concordia Summit, which included a session on Fixing Our Food & Nutrition Systems.

Various live discussions on socially relevant issues were held in the social network LinkedIn – including in areas where Bayer is viewed critically. Examples include discussions on Earth Overshoot Day and the planetary boundaries. We participated in numerous other discussion events as well. These included dialogues on food security at the Munich Security Conference and on innovation at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, as well as stakeholder dialogues on sustainability during the U.N. General Assembly.

The increasing interest of the capital market in sustainability topics was reflected in our talks with investors and rating agencies in 2020. These conversations revolved around questions related to our sustainability strategy focusing mainly on climate protection, our Group targets and the role they play in management compensation, the tasks of the Sustainability Council, and the effects of our products on the environment – especially as regards crop protection products and genetically modified plants. Other important topics were the integration of Monsanto and especially the Group’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We prioritize being a reliable partner that is aware of its societal responsibility toward the communities adjacent to our sites. To this end – at our production sites in particular – we maintain open dialogue between local management and community members, which is supported by the respective country organization. This dialogue involves personal discussions with residents, citizens’ initiatives, representatives of religious communities and the regional press. This community dialogue is anchored in a globally valid corporate policy on site management.

We also engaged in everyday dialogue with our customers particularly as regards their satisfaction with our products and services. Our divisions navigate very different regulatory frameworks. For example, direct contact between Pharmaceuticals or Consumer Health and the respective customer environment, and especially patients, is regulated in different ways for each division. With regard to the collection of customer satisfaction data, different legal requirements apply to prescription medicines from Pharmaceuticals than to nonprescription medicines, for example. The primary market research and data research that must be conducted, including systematic internet analysis, strictly adheres to the legal requirements, which can vary significantly depending on the market.

This capacity building program is implemented with food chain partners in many of these initiatives, and through Bayer For-wardFarming, a global collaboration with farmers. These programs center on innovative crop solutions and services for sustainable agriculture. We also address the most significant challenges facing humankind. In this regard, we forge alliances with NGOs, value chain partners and the public sector, and jointly develop new solutions – for example to prevent the spread of pathogens such as TR4 (tropical race 4) on banana plants or to control plagues of locusts. 

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 chapter 2  (p. 29-31) 

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10. Product Responsibility and Innovation

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Assuming responsibility for our products, from medicines to complex solutions for agriculture, is always at the core of what we do. They should be of the highest quality and contribute to a better life. This means that neither their development and manufacture nor their disposal should cause damage to people and the environment. For this reason, we strictly conform to regulations and laws all over the world.

Research and development

We use the latest knowledge and technologies to develop products and services so that we can continuously optimize their efficacy, productivity and safety for people and the environment.

As part of the testing process, chemical and biological crop protection products are examined early in the development phase with regard to their mode of action, their (eco)toxicological properties and the extent of potential residues in plants and the environment to ensure that only those products with the best safety profile are developed further. To determine risks more precisely, we perform extensive safety testing as defined by law.

The development of genetically modified seeds is also subject to extensive international guidelines and stringent national laws and regulations. We have specified internal processes in a corporate regulation to ensure a responsible approach to biotechnologically manufactured products throughout their life cycle.

Agriculture

Sustainable intensification

Bayer helps farmers cultivate more food for a growing population while at the same time reducing the environmental im-pact of agriculture. Digital technologies play an important role here, as do improved seed and good agricultural practices. To reduce harvest losses caused by insect pests, competitors for nutrients or fungal infestation, we combine our high-performance seeds with the targeted use of crop protection products. We can therefore offer farmers a selection of these innovations and recommend optimal combinations that enable the use of agricultural production factors at the correct time and place.

Plant biotechnology

Bayer specializes in high-quality seeds with groundbreaking traits that offer not just higher yields, but also improved weed control and more effective defense against insects.

Our herbicide-tolerant plants are tolerant to certain herbicides such as glyphosate or dicamba. This enables weeds in fields to be eliminated using herbicides without damaging the crops.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 chapter 2 (p. 34)

Innovative packaging technology: CapSeal

It is becoming increasingly difficult for those who use crop protection products to distinguish between an original and a counterfeit product. Bayer is thus the first producer of crop protection products to enable farmers to clearly identify original products through CapSeal technology. The closure seal has optical security features and a QR code that users can scan with an interactive smartphone app to receive important information about the product’s authenticity. CapSeal is found on the packaging of all Bayer crop protection products that are filled in bottles and sold in the Europe/Middle East/Africa and Latin America regions, as well as parts of Asia/Pacific. In 2020, we began expanding CapSeal technology to include solids and seeds packaging.

Production, packaging, storage and transport

Health, safety, environmental protection and quality are a top priority for Bayer at all its sites around the world, including at the Crop Science sites where crop protection or seed products are produced. A health, safety and environment (HSE) management system with uniform standards applies Group-wide. Product manufacture at Crop Science is per-formed according to the quality management standard ISO 9001. As with our suppliers, we expect our third-party producers to conduct their business with Bayer in accordance with the requirements of our Supplier Code of Conduct. We ensure that our products are adequately packaged and are stored and transported according to the applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Responsible use of crop protection products

Through targeted training courses, we show farmers, seed treatment professionals and distributors how to use our products both effectively and safely to maintain healthy plants and increase the yield and quality of their harvested goods. Our objective is to continuously increase the out-reach of our training activities, in part through more wide-spread use of digital media in the future.

Use of digital technologies

For Bayer, digital farming is an important tool for creating a better balance between productivity and environmental conservation. The goal of digital farming is to use resources such as water, fertilizer and crop protection products more efficiently and sustainably.

The application of these new technologies enables a reduction of the resources needed for plant production and also promotes the safe and responsible use of crop protection products.

Bayer Helllas is participating as a founder in Cyclos recycling company for CropScience packaging recycling process

Water protection

The avoidance of crop protection product discharges into water bodies is an important aspect of sustainable agriculture. Alongside point source discharges into water bodies that can occur during the filling and cleaning of spraying de-vices, diffuse substance discharges from treated acreages can also play a significant role. That is why many of our training measures for farmers also focus on protecting bodies of water through the correct use of our products

Protecting pollinators and other beneficial insects

Bees and other pollinators are hugely important for sustainable food production, and we also depend on healthy pollinators in our seed business. Bayer shares the concerns about currently declining insect populations and has published a position on this issue. As the causes of this decline have not yet been fully clarified, we believe further scientific studies of the causes and the development of corresponding counter-measures are urgently needed. We are therefore involved in researching the factors leading to a decline and developing measures to counter this trend.

Biodiversity: An interdisciplinary topic

Biodiversity is an interdisciplinary topic that affects several areas of our company and our value chain. In addition to active ingredients for pharmaceutical development, the agriculture sector benefits especially from biodiversity – while at the same time contributing to its loss.

We are aware that our business operations are highly de-pendent on biodiversity and functioning ecosystems, and that they mutually influence each other. That is why we are committed to integrating considerations around biodiversity preservation as comprehensively as possible into our core business and our research and development activities. We are therefore investigating and developing cultivation systems that help to achieve a better balance between productivity and the conservation of biodiversity and habitats. In cooperation projects involving our ForwardFarms and nature conservation experts, for example, we research what this balance could look like in various countries, regions and crops.

Quality and safety of pharmaceuticals and medical devices

Extremely stringent safety standards for patients and medical professionals apply to pharmaceuticals and medical de-vices. That’s why both the development and manufacture of pharmaceuticals and medical devices are subject to very strict quality requirements. Internal experts and external assessors regularly conduct risk-based audits to verify compliance with the statutory requirements and relevant standards in development and pro-duction as well as for registered product specifications.

Pharmaceutical residues in the environment

Active pharmaceutical ingredients can enter the environment through human excreta, through improper disposal or during production. Discharges into surface waters are particularly relevant here. In connection with drinking water that is partially taken from surface waters, our current knowledge indicates that the existing concentrations of individual active pharmaceutical ingredients in drinking water currently do not have any effects on human health.

Bayer participated and acted as coordinator of the iPiE (Intelligence-led Assessment of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment) sub-project. A total of 25 partners from Europe and the United States participated in iPiE, including 13 major pharmaceutical companies and nine universities and research organizations. The project was established by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), aimed at developing new models and assessment strategies for predicting the environmental risks of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Researchers can use the findings gained from the project to develop new pharmaceuticals and thus recognize at an early stage what impact a new drug product might have on the environment. An analysis found that a potential environmental risk is identifiable for only a small number of the active ingredients assessed so far within the scope of central approval processes. These primarily comprise hormonally active ingredients, which are also used at Bayer.

We are also a participant in PREMIER (Prioritization and Risk Evaluation of Medicines in the EnviRonment), a follow-up project initiated with the IMI in 2020 that focuses on assessing and reducing the risk posed by pharmaceuticals in the environment. The goal is to provide an innovative framework for characterizing the environmental risks of active ingredients that can be used to explore and promote a more environmentally friendly active ingredient design and a more environmentally friendly manufacturing process.

Bayer is also involved in the stakeholder dialogue initiated by the German government with the goal of drawing up a strategy for dealing with trace substances in bodies of water. The objective is to develop a strategy to pre-vent the water-impacting effects of certain chemicals, including active pharmaceutical ingredients. We also actively participate in the round table on iodinated X-ray contrast agents.

Our Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health divisions carry out ecotoxicological investigations of pharmaceutical residues to assess the potential environmental impact of their active pharmaceutical ingredients. In connection with the approval process for human pharmaceuticals in Europe and the United States, an environmental risk assessment of dis-charge following proper use by patients takes place for all new active pharmaceutical ingredients. General information on the environmental risks of pharmaceuticals is given in the specialized information for physicians and in the package inserts, including details of how to dispose of unused pharmaceuticals.

We take additional action in our production facilities to minimize discharges of active ingredients into the environment based on risk-oriented assessment parameters.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 (p. 32-55)

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Energy consumption

Compared with 2020 (35.9 petajoules), Bayer’s total energy consumption fell by 2.9% to 34.8 petajoules in 2021. This includes both primary energy consumption, mainly of fossil fuels, and secondary energy consumption. This decline compared to 2020 is primarily due to interruptions in production as a result of Hurricane Ida at the sites in Soda Springs, Idaho, and Luling, Louisiana, in the United States. A reduction in the number of vehicles in the company fleet also contributed.

Energy efficiency

Bayer reports energy efficiency as the ratio of energy used to external sales. Energy efficiency improved compared with 2019.

Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

See Bayer Sustainability Report 2021  chapter 7(p.91) 

• In 2021, 802 Sustainability assessments via the EcoVadis platform were performed in our supply chain
• Incidents of non-compliance concerning the health and safety impacts of products and services

See Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 chapter 4  (p.65)

Furthermore:

• The percentage of PHEV vehicles in 2021 in relation to the total corporate fleet is: 37% (69 PHEV out of a total of 188)
• The reduction in mileage due to the implementation of remote working on a larger scale and better adaptation of corporate travel is about 12%
• The reduction of CO2 emissions due to the above applications is 70 Mton and the percentage is about 14%

Resource: Annual internal evaluation

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11. Usage of Natural Resources

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Among our highest priorities are protecting the environment and ensuring the safety of our employees and the people who live near our sites. We work continuously to reduce the environmental impact of our business activities and develop product solutions that benefit the environment. Bayer’s focus is on taking consistent precautions – to ensure safety in day-to-day work, in the operation of production facilities, and on work-related travel and transportation routes.

HSE management systems

Based on the HSE Management and HSE Key Requirements corporate policy, which was published in April 2018, all environmentally relevant Bayer sites must introduce an HSE management system by March 2021 that complies with recognized international standards (e.g. ISO 14001, ISO 45001 or ISO 50001).

By the end of 2025, furthermore, 80% of our business activity should have coverage with external certification to the above standards.

Water and Wastewater

Responsible water usage is a cornerstone of our commitment to sustainable development. Clean water in sufficient quantities is essential for the health of people, animals and plants. That is why it is crucial that industrial water usage will continue not to lead to local problems such as a short-age of water for the people living in the catchment areas of our production sites. In our Water Position, we commit to complying with international, national and local legislation to protect water resources, using them as sparingly as possible and further reducing emissions into water.

In our water stewardship strategy, we address a variety of factors connected with water, from operational water use and innovative products such as seeds with a reduced water requirement to our commitment in the value chain and cooperation with partners. We support the CEO Water Man-date of the U.N. Global Compact with the goal of working with key stakeholders to develop sustainable strategies for water usage.

We aim to identify potential for improvement particularly at sites located in water-scarce areas or in areas identified as being threatened by water scarcity, and use as little water there as possible.

Water use

Water use Around 37.8% of all water used by Bayer is cooling water that is only heated in this process and does not come into contact with products. It can be returned to the water cycle without further treatment in line with the relevant official permits. At our production facilities, we endeavor to use water several times and to recycle it. Water is currently recycled by various means at 49 sites, these being responsible for 44.5% of the total water used. These means include closed cooling cycles, reuse of treated wastewater, including to water fields, and recirculation of steam condensates as process water. The total volume of water recycled comes to more than 380 million cubic meters, meaning that the 57 million cubic meters of water originally deployed is used more than six times on average.

Wastewater

All wastewater is subject to strict monitoring before it is discharged into the various disposal channels. In 2020, 78.8% of all our industrial and mixed wastewater worldwide was purified in wastewater treatment plants.

Remediation of soil and groundwater contamination

In line with the HSE Management and HSE Key Requirements corporate policy, Bayer ensures the implementation of measures to prevent the contamination of soil and groundwater. This includes inspecting facilities for leaks, implementing effective secondary retention measures for storage tanks, and maintenance and inspection pro-grams. The measures also include applying suitable leak identification devices for tanks, containers and pipes containing hazardous materials as well as the installation of sealed surfaces with a sufficient retention volume, for ex-ample in tank loading and unloading areas.

Bayer also actively performs remediation activities to mitigate environmental damage resulting from incompliant waste management or accidents in the past.

Waste and Recycling

We want to minimize material consumption and disposal volumes through systematic waste management. Waste separation, safe disposal channels and economically expedient recycling processes serve this purpose. In accordance with our corporate regulations, all production sites are obliged to prevent, recycle and reduce waste and to dispose of it safely and in line with good environmental practices. Each of our sites must have an up-to-date waste register that includes for each waste stream the name and description of the waste, its source and volume and sufficient information on its composition, hazard classification and final treatment and disposal.

Production fluctuations, building refurbishment and land re-mediation work influence waste volumes and recycling paths.

Energy

Our energy needs have the greatest direct impact on our greenhouse gas emissions. Production accounts for the most significant share of our energy requirement, which de-pends on the production operations at the sites and the depth of our value chain

Pharmaceutical residues in the environment

Active pharmaceutical ingredients can enter the environment through human excreta, through improper disposal or during production. Discharges into surface waters are particularly relevant here. In connection with drinking water that is partially taken from surface waters, our current knowledge indicates that the existing concentrations of individual active pharmaceutical ingredients in drinking water currently do not have any effects on human health. We take additional action in our production facilities to minimize discharges of active ingredients into the environment based on risk-oriented assessment parameters.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 Chapter 8  (p.93-104)

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

In 2021, around 24.7% of our purchased electricity was sourced from renewable energies. We concluded additional supply agreements for electricity from renewable energies in the United States, Brazil and Germany in 2021. We are thus on track to achieve our target of 100% in 2029. Compared with 2020 (35.9 petajoules), Bayer’s total energy consumption fell by 2.9% to 34.8 petajoules in 2021. This includes both primary energy consumption, mainly of fossil fuels, and secondary energy consumption. This decline compared to 2020 is primarily due to interruptions in production as a result of Hurricane Ida at the sites in Soda Springs, Idaho, and Luling, Louisiana, in the United States. A reduction in the number of vehicles in the company fleet also contributed.

In 2020, total water use in the Bayer Group was 57 million cubic meters (2019: 59 million cubic meters). Some 5.7% of our total water consumption (3 million cubic meters) comes from water sources in water-scarce areas or in areas identified as being threatened by water scarcity (as defined by the World Resources Institute, Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas).

Water and wastewater

Waste generated 2020

In 2021, total water use in the Bayer Group was 55 million cubic meters (2020: 57 million cubic meters). Some 5.8% of our total water use (55 million cubic meters) comes from water sources in water-scarce areas or in areas identified as being threatened by water scarcity (as defined by the World Resources Institute).

Water Sourced by Division

This includes water use attributable to the enabling functions and administration sites of the regions.

Water consumption by the Pharmaceuticals Division could be reduced through water-saving measures at the Orizaba Proquina site in Mexico. Around 35.7% of all water used by Bayer is cooling water that is only heated in this process and does not come into contact with products. It can be returned to the water cycle without further treatment in line with the relevant official permits.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 chapter 8  (p.95)

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12. Resource Management

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Responsibility for steering and monitoring health, safety and environment (HSE) aspects across the Group lies with the enabling function of the same name, which is, in line with the business allocation plan of the Board of Management, assigned to the member of the Board of Management re-sponsible for Crop Science. The Corporate HSE enabling function establishes responsibilities, targets, key performance indicators and framework conditions for the entire Group. These include the HSE Management and HSE Key Requirements corporate policy, which forms an integral part of the global HSE management system. This policy de-scribes the basic approach for monitoring HSE processes at Bayer and defines core HSE requirements that need to be implemented worldwide. Detailed requirements for individual environmental protection and safety aspects are established in more far-reaching corporate regulations.

The continuous review and revision of corporate regulations by the Corporate HSE enabling function, regular mandatory internal audits and external certification processes ensure that the systems at all sites meet the requirements in each case.

HSE management systems are integrated into business processes across the Bayer Group. Operational responsibility for health, safety and environmental protection lies with the individual divisions, which steer HSE via management systems, committees and working groups.

We report all relevant HSE data of the Group including all fully consolidated companies in which we have a share of more than 50%, collect data on occupational injuries at all sites worldwide, and record environmental indicators at 220 environmentally relevant production, research and administration sites, compiling this in the Bayer-wide site information system INTELEX  We consider all sites to be environmentally relevant whose annual energy consumption is greater than 1.5 terajoules.

Our HSE commitment extends beyond the scope of legal requirements. For capital expenditure projects exceeding €10 million, we perform a voluntary ecological assessment. This includes an evaluation of direct and indirect emissions. In the case of acquisitions, we examine compliance with the applicable environmental and occupational safety regulations as well as fundamental employee rights at the production sites in question. Through our HSE management systems we also avoid damage and disruptions to work and production.

HSE management systems

Based on the HSE Management and HSE Key Requirements corporate policy, which was published in April 2018, all environmentally relevant Bayer sites must introduce an HSE management system by March 2021 that complies with recognized international standards (e.g. ISO 14001, ISO 45001 or ISO 50001).

By the end of 2025, furthermore, 80% of our business activity should have coverage with external certification to the above standards.

HSE audits

Audits are an integral component of our global HSE management system. They help to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and to improve our performance world-wide through the management and mitigation of possible HSE risks. Bayer’s global HSE audit program comprises both general HSE audits and process and plant safety audits. The Health, Safety and Environmental Audits corporate directive defines the basic principles and methodology for selection, planning, implementation and post-processing using a risk-based decision-making process. Bayer’s audit approach is based on the international standard ISO 19011 “Guidelines for Auditing Management Systems” and pro-vides the framework for carrying out audits. Through the overarching HSE audit approach, we include all units and apply the same concepts worldwide. When selecting sites for audit, the focus is particularly on production sites, relevant Bayer warehouses, sites with research and development units, relevant seed treatment and processing units and country groups.

The frequency of audits is determined taking into account the risk category (based partly on the size of the site or the type of production activity), the performance evaluation (based partly on past audit results, for example) and risk-mitigating measures (e.g. existing ISO certifications), and ranges from two to five years. Incident-based audits can be carried out in addition to this. The audit criteria comprise all applicable environmental and safety regulations and standards for the area being audited, including Bayer regulations, local HSE management system regulations, legally applicable standards, permit requirements and international standards (e.g. ISO 14001 or ISO 45001). If deficiencies in compliance with legal regulations are identified, additional compliance audits can be planned.

The respective site management, the division and the head of the Corporate HSE enabling function are notified of the audit findings. Supplementary to the global HSE and process and plant safety audits, sites and country organizations carry out their own internal HSE audits or self-inspections according to a specific risk-based approach. Since 2020, all global audit reports, and successively the local audit reports as well, have been stored in a new database.

Water and Wastewater

We aim to identify potential for improvement particularly at sites located in water-scarce areas or in areas identified as being threatened by water scarcity, and use as little water there as possible. The first step in this process was the analysis of our sites in such areas in 2019, based on the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas published by the World Resources Institute, to establish whether they have a water management system. This was the case with 95% of these sites. In 2020, we achieved our goal of increasing this to 100% coverage of our sites with a water management system. For more information on water sources in water-scarce areas or in areas identified as being threatened by water scarcity, please see the table “Water Sourced in Water-Scarce Areas or Areas Threatened by Water Scarcity.”

We are currently further developing our water strategy to better address the opportunities and risks associated with water stewardship in the future, especially in view of changing climatic conditions.

We aim to minimize our emissions into water. Compliance with the relevant wastewater thresholds at our production sites worldwide is monitored by supervisory authorities and external assessors and also reviewed at regular intervals through on-site audits by internal experts.

To further reduce or completely exclude the release of active ingredient traces into the environment, we implement additional wastewater treatment measures at the production sites that are established in a corporate regulation. These measures include a hazard evaluation and HSE risk assessment of the wastewater to determine whether wastewater parameters need to be further reduced. In such cases, internal wastewater thresholds can be derived that offer sufficient risk mitigation but do not represent legally established limits.

Through improved wastewater analytics at our site in Camacari, Brazil, the reported emissions for total organic carbon (TOC) had to be adjusted upward. Owing to an ammonia leak at the Kansas City site in the United States, dis-charges of nitrogen rose by 12.5%.

Waste and Recycling

Legislation prohibits the recycling and processing/treatment of a large proportion of our materials, especially pharmaceuticals and crop protection products. In our divisions, we make use of the opportunities for recycling within the framework of legal regulations. Production-specific and sub-stance-specific recycling is carried out in compliance with the individual requirements of a given production site. Pack-aging materials are recycled in line with national regulations as part of the country-specific infrastructure for waste disposal. In many countries with no legal regulation, the industry has set up a return system in collaboration with other providers.

Material-based recycling is important in Crop Science’s active ingredient and intermediate manufacture, and is handled individually at the respective production site. Solvents, catalysts and intermediates are processed and returned to the production process. In global process development for active ingredients and intermediates, material recycling is considered an important development criterion.

Processes are in place at Bayer to ensure the safe sell-off of products, including the disposal of obsolete inventories or waste. Returns of obsolete stocks of crop protection products are accepted in individual cases. The crop protection product industry has set up voluntary initiatives in various countries for the proper disposal of obsolete stocks. As part of its activities in the international CropLife association, Crop Science is working with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Bank to sup-port the proper collection and disposal of obsolete crop protection products in Africa.

In the Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health divisions, pro-duction-specific recycling is carried out in compliance with the individual requirements of a given production site. The disposal of pharmaceutical products is subject to strict safety criteria, so no recycling is possible for the portfolios of the Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health divisions. Mate-rial-based recycling takes place at the Pharmaceuticals site in Bergkamen, Germany, in the form of the recovery of sol-vents used in production.

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Environmental Incidents

There were three environmental incidents that resulted in the release of substances into the environment in 2021 (2020: three). A sulfuric acid tank leaked at a site in the United States, resulting in small amounts of the acid penetrating the diked containment. At the Muscatine site in Iowa, United States, natural gas entered the environment when a combustion flare did not properly ignite to burn the gas. And at the Dormagen site in Germany, sodium hydroxide solution was mistakenly used for high-pressure cleaning instead of water and entered the environment. An external contractor employee was fatally injured. Most of the sodium hydroxide solution was collected and disposed of properly. Factors that determine whether there is a reporting obligation for a particular environmental incident include, in particular, the nature and quantity of the substance, the amount of damages caused and any consequences for nearby residents. In line with our internal voluntary commitment, we report any leakage of substances with a high hazard potential from a quantity of 100 kilograms upward. 

Biosafety

In accordance with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) on biorisk management principles, we consider biosafety to comprise the principles, technologies and processes implemented to prevent unintended expo-sure to biological materials that could pose a risk to people or the environment. Misuse or theft of biological materials is also prevented by corresponding measures.

Biological material must be handled with suitable care to ensure that employees, residents and the environment are protected. This includes microorganisms, invertebrates, vertebrates, plants, cell cultures, genetically modified organisms, toxins and allergens. An assessment of the biosafety risk is necessary before biological materials can be used, particularly in R&D and production. These analyses are conducted by the employee responsible for biosafety in each case and verified together with an expert. All employees tasked with biosafety must undergo regular training.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 chapter 8 (p. 93-106)

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

In 2020, around 6% of our purchased electricity was sourced from renewable energies. Around 94% of the electricity orignated from other sources, such as fossil fuels or nuclear power. In 2020, we concluded supply agreements for electricity from renewable energies in the United States, Mexico, Spain and other countries.

Compared with 2019 (39.2 petajoules), Bayer’s total energy consumption fell by 8.6% to 35.9 petajoules in 2020. This decline is primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to reduced production activities at some sites.

In 2020, total water use in the Bayer Group was 57 million cubic meters (2019: 59 million cubic meters). Some 5.7% of our total water consumption (3 million cubic meters) comes from water sources in water-scarce areas or in areas identified as being threatened by water scarcity (as defined by the World Resources Institute, Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas).

Water and wastewater

The total quantity of waste generated rose by 6.7% in 2020 compared to 2019. This was mainly attributable to the seed production site in Maria Eugenia Rojas, Argentina, where large amounts of waste composed of plant byproducts were disposed of as nonhazardous waste for agricultural use and composting. The volume of hazardous waste fell by 3.4% compared to 2019 due to the completion of construction and remediation work at the Vapi site in India.

The volume of waste disposed of increased by 8.1%. Some 42.9% of this waste was successfully recycled. The pro-portion of hazardous waste that was recycled was 12.4%.

The volume of hazardous waste disposed of to landfill fell owing to the completion of construction work taking place at the Vapi site in India as part of an infrastructure project.

Waste generated 2020

Waste by means of disposal

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2020 (p. 69-80)

Furthermore:

• In 2021 we recycled 128 pieces of mixed batteries (NRA code 200133)
• In 2021 we recycled 4.460 kg  of solid waste ie. paper,
• The quantities recycled in 2018 in lamps and electronic/electrical waste were a total of 3,919.40 kg in the NRQS codes 200121* and 200136
• for 2021 the recycling of solid waste was 4.46 tons

Resource: Certificates of cooperating companies and internal information

Also, on energy consumption we have

• The total power consumption in 2020 was 533.59 MWh while in 2021 it was 439.722MWh Resource: Annual internal evaluation

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13. Climate-relevant emissions

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Climate change affects us all and is one of the greatest challenges that humankind will face in the future. Bayer considers climate protection and the related reduction of green-house gas emissions to be a top priority. We anticipate that our business areas of health care and agriculture will be impacted by climate change but will also be part of the solution. The Chairman of the Board of Management holds direct responsibility for climate protection in his role as Chief Sustainability Officer. He is supported in this by the Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability enabling function and the sustainability departments within the divisions. The divisions handle the operational implementation of the climate protection measures at their sites with the support of the enabling functions. The Sustainability Council was established in 2020 to advise the Board of Management in the future in all matters related to sustainable development – including climate protection. The ever-present global relevance of climate change also explains the increasing importance of this topic at Bayer.

Bayer supports the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) with respect to reporting on this topic. In our report, we implement the 11 recommendations of the TCFD in the four categories of Governance, Strategy, Risk Management and Metrics & Tar-gets.

Climate Strategy

We support the Paris Agreement and the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to the pre-industrial level. In 2019, therefore, we made climate neutrality at our own sites a Group target for 2030 within our climate program. We plan to attain this target partly by reducing our emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 42% (base year: 2019) in absolute terms and partly by offsetting the remaining emissions (Scope 1 and 2).

We also strive to reduce the relevant emissions in our value chain (Scope 3) by 12.3% in absolute terms. These reduction goals were confirmed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The attainment of these targets is accounted for in the compensation of the Board of Management and managerial employees.

Commitment to climate

We are committed to the objective of the Paris Agreement. As a signatory to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C initiative, we strive to attain net zero emissions in our entire value chain by 2050. In this way, we are helping to protect the health of people, animals and plants, and to conserve ecosystems. We are also dedicated to a climate policy that is in harmony with our ambitious climate targets. We therefore support decarbonization measures through our membership in industrial associations, whose positions and actions affecting climate policy we regularly examine critically.

We have set additional targets at Crop Science to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint, since this currently accounts for about 25% of global emissions. By 2030, we want to help lower greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of harvested produce in major agricultural markets by 30%. This applies to the most emissions-intensive crops in the regions where Bayer operates. For example, we will support farmers in the use of climate-friendly practices so that they release less CO2 thanks to measures such as reduced plowing and the application of digital solutions in their fields.

To achieve both the Group target of climate neutrality and the Science Based Targets, we will implement various measures in the future in the areas of energy efficiency, energy sources, compensation and value chain:

// We will spend €500 million through 2030 to attain an absolute reduction in our emissions through energy efficiency measures.

// Worldwide, we will source 100% of our procured electricity from renewable energies by 2030. 

// We will fully offset these unavoidable emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 2030 through certificates from

// To enable a future reduction in the emissions of our up-stream value chain (supply chain, Scope 3), we undertook a Scope 3 analysis in 2020 to identify relevant reduction potentials. Possible implementation measures include giving suppliers incentives to use electricity from renewable energies, further optimizing our logistics and reducing packaging.

Risk and Opportunity Analysis

In 2020, we looked at the risks and effects of climate change from various perspectives to better evaluate them as regards our company and integrate them into our strategy and measures. Climate-related risks are already accounted for in our Group-wide Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). We plan to further intensify this aspect in the future, in doing so addressing the recommendations of the TCFD.

We will conduct a scenario analysis in 2021 based on the internationally acknowledged scenarios SSPs (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways) and RCPs (Representative Concentration Pathways) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This analysis is designed to help us assess the impact of climate change on our business strategy through 2030 and 2050 and to derive relevant decisions.

Short-term (extreme) weather events and long-term climate changes, whose intensity can vary according to region, pre-sent a challenge in particular for the agriculture industry. There are increasing risks of harvest losses and thus for the agricultural value chain as a whole. The Crop Science Division therefore takes weather and climate aspects into account when evaluating the risks for its business and aligning its business strategy. With our strategy for achieving climate neutrality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions along a path of 1.5 degrees Celsius, we are reducing the risk of possible higher costs as a result of new or more expensive emissions allowances.

We continuously analyze the further effects of regulatory requirements on our business, such as through the EU Green Deal. National or international CO2 reduction targets could lead to the abandonment of fossil fuels, for example. At the same time, regulatory authorities have been critical of the generation of fuels from biomass (biofuels). Depending on the regulators’ decision, this could lead to either increased or reduced demand for biofuels. This decision could impact our sales markets, as some of our customers grow corn for the production of biofuels.

In addition to risks, however, climate change can also create opportunities for our business. Bayer’s product range and innovation capability – particularly in the agricultural value chain – will create a foundation for leveraging new options and sales opportunities in the future against the background of climate change.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2020 (p. 65-67)

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

At Bayer, air emissions are primarily caused by the combustion of primary energy sources such as gas and oil. These are used to generate electricity, steam and auxiliary energy (such as for heating and cooling) for the production of our products. Further emissions derive from chemical processes in which coal and other energy sources are required to pro-duce chemical reactions. Emissions are also generated through our vehicle fleet and in the extraction and processing of raw materials.

In reporting greenhouse gas emissions, we take into account the recommendations of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol). Direct emissions from our own power plants, vehicles, waste incineration plants and production facilities (Scope 1) and indirect emissions from the procurement of electricity, steam and cooling energy (Scope 2) are determined at all environmentally relevant sites whose annual consumption exceeds 1.5 terajoules.

In line with the GHG Protocol, we report indirect emissions (Scope 2) according to both the location-based and market-based methods. Greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2020 compared to 2019.

We address our climate protection activities in our latest Re-port to CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project).

Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Scope 1 and 2)

In 2020, the Bayer Group was involved in European emissions trading with five plants in total. The CO2 emissions of these plants amounted to almost 313,000 metric tons.

Due to the varying depth of value creation, direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) are unequally distributed among our divisions. Our raw material ex-traction activities, including treatment and downstream processing, for the manufacture of the crop protection intermediates of Crop Science are especially energy-intensive – this division therefore accounts for the greatest share of our greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Division (Scope 1 and 2)

The GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting & Reporting Standard bindingly regulates the re-porting of all indirect emissions from the value chain and separates these emissions into 15 categories. Emissions from eight Scope 3 categories are of material importance to Bayer and together account for our total Scope 3 emissions. We describe these in detail in the Report to CDP.

In accordance with the guidelines of the Science Based Tar-gets initiative (SBTi), the calculation of our reduction target for Scope 3 emissions utilizes only the five relevant categories that make up the biggest portion of our Scope 3 emissions (88%). We also separately report the sum of these Scope 3 emissions in the following table.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Value Chain (Scope 3)

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2020 (p. 67-68)

Furthermore:

For Bayer Hellas the percentage of PHEV vehicles in 2022 in relation to the total corporate fleet is71 PHEV out of a total of 188), 108 diesel and 9 gasoline.

Resource: Annual internal evaluation

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14. Employment Rights

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Bayer is a founding member of the U.N. Global Compact and respects the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We support the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which are among the most important international standards for preventing and combating possible human rights violations in connection with business activities, and globally recognized declarations applicable for multinational corporations. These include the OECD Guidelines for Multi-national Enterprises, the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the latter’s core labor standards.

Management Approach

Bayer fully supports human rights and has documented its stance in a globally binding Bayer Human Rights Policy. We are committed to respecting and fostering human rights within our own business activities and in business relations. Furthermore, our LIFE values, BASE principles and Corporate Compliance and Fairness and Respect at Work corporate policies establish how all employees worldwide must conduct themselves fairly and in a compliant manner in dealings with colleagues, business partners and members of the community. Human rights are among the responsibilities of the Chairman of the Bayer Board of Management. In his role as Chief Sustainability Officer, he is supported as regards the topic of human rights by the Ethics and Social Impact Team of the Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability enabling function. The implementation of our human rights standards in bus-ness operations is regulated by corporate regulations, processes and management and monitoring systems.

We use a Group-wide, integrated risk management system to identify potentially detrimental effects of our business activity on human rights. The Bayer Risk Universe is regularly reviewed and, if necessary, updated. The increase in internal and external requirements as regards human rights is reflected in our risk management.

We are currently focusing on further developing our human rights strategy. The first step in this process was to work with an external consulting company to analyze the status quo in our own company and along the entire value chain, aligning this to the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. On the basis of this, we aim to introduce in 2021 a comprehensive, long-term strategy for respecting human rights.

Implementation Measures

We implement measures to ensure respect for human rights both within our own company and along our entire value chain. Child and forced labor are strictly prohibited at Bayer in accordance with the core labor standards of the ILO.

In line with the conventions of the ILO, Bayer only offers fixed-term internships and education programs to young people when this does not impair their safety, health and compulsory school attendance in any way and compliance with the requirements is precisely monitored.

We offer ongoing training programs to enhance employees’ awareness of the importance of human rights in their day-to-day activities. In 2020, more than 80% of our employees received training on aspects of our Human Rights Policy in sessions totaling more than 190,000 hours.

Employee Rights

Employees at all Bayer sites around the world have the right to elect their own representatives. In 2020, the working conditions for around 55% of our employees worldwide were governed by collective or company agreements. At various country companies, the interests of the workforce are represented by elected employee representatives who have a right to be consulted on certain personnel-related decisions. The contractually agreed working hours of our employees do not exceed 48 hours a week at any of our significant lo-cations of operation.

Dialogue and exchange

Our employees have the opportunity to discuss company-specific topics and scope for optimization via various communication channels. We actively involve our employees in business processes by offering the opportunity for dialogue. Informing staff in a timely manner and comprehensively about upcoming changes, in compliance with the applicable national and international regulations, is very important to us. We measure employee engagement at Bayer by means of institutionalized feedback discussions and regular employee surveys. This enables us to monitor the effectiveness of our initiatives and implement any necessary improvements. Division-specific employee surveys were conducted at Crop Science and Consumer Health. We also carried out employee surveys within our enabling functions. The approval rate for employee engagement was 80% (2019: 73%) at Crop Science, 81% (2019: 75%) at Consumer Health and 80% in the enabling functions.

We engage in open and trustful dialogue with employee representatives worldwide. The main dialogue formats are regular employee assemblies and information events for managers, as well as the European Forum, at which employee representatives from all European sites engage in discussion with the Board of Management on topics of overarching relevance to the company.

Our employees can submit Bayer-related questions through the internal crowdsourcing platform WeSolve to solicit innovative, interdisciplinary ideas. These are then answered with the help of other employees with whom the person asking the question does not normally have any contact.

To promote a culture of innovation in the workplace, additional platforms for making work-related suggestions are available to employees in Germany e.g. the Bayer Ideas Pool and the Ideas Forum. The suggestions made by employees on improving processes, occupational safety and health protection are rewarded and utilized. More than 2,700 ideas were submitted in 2020. 45% of the suggestions for improvement evaluated in 2020 were implemented. In the first year of implementation alone, those improvements that led to quantifiable benefits generated savings of some €3.9 million. In 2020, Bayer distributed bonuses of around €1.1 million for the implemented proposals.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 chapter 6  (p. 573-83)

Bayer Sustainability Report 2020

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Proportion of Collective Agreements by Region

Collective agreements


Employees’ Data

Employees data


Employee Structure of the Bayer Group 2020

Employee structure

The proportion of women in upper management in 2020 was 36.1%. The proportion of women in the Group Leadership Circle, the highest management level in the Bayer Group be-low the Board of Management, increased again compared to previous years. By the end of 2020, it was made up of 23% women (compared to 6.5% as reported in 2010) and 77% men (2010: 93.5%). The Group Leadership Circle currently comprises 35 nationalities, with around 65% of its members working in their native country.

Since February 2021, the Board of Management has again had one female member, thus meeting early the target set in 2019. The company’s Supervisory Board should be com-posed of at least 30% women or 30% men. The Supervisory Board meets this target, with women making up 35%.

Worker participation, consultation, and communication on occupational health and safety

Within the context of our occupational safety management, Bayer employees and those of contracted companies receive extensive training in the prevention of accidents and safety incidents. The measures range from safety briefings to special training courses on the safe handling of chemical substances. Overall, more than 24,600 employees completed safety training measures conveying detailed contents in 2020.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2020 (p. 55-57, 62-63, 76)

In Bayer Hellas the age distribution is as follows, while women make up 42% of all VS level workers.

At Bayer we are committed to benefits and benefits that will support our people's effort to create Science for a Better Life. Our benefits contribute to the health of our employees and their families, to the balance between personal and professional life, but also to their ability to grow within the company.

Indicatively, the benefits and benefits that Bayer provides to its people may include (among others):

• Private medical program for themselves and their families
• Free check-up, ophthalmological, musculoskeletal and dermatological tests
• Participation in a pension plan
• Additional variable reward reward fees (depending on the position)
• Working remotely (depending on the role)
• Access to employee confidential support programs
• Meal vouchers
• Extra days off
• Especially for parents, the following have been established
• Increase in the period for maternity leave: In addition to the leave provided for by the relevant legislation, Bayer gives mothers two additional months of full paid leave, which applies to both childbirth and adoption.
• Introduction of paternity leave: Up to two months of full paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. The license can be used within the first 18 months of having a child.
• Birth gift: The birth gift is increased from €250 to €1,000 (in gross amounts), which is paid through the payroll to employees after the birth of the child and is provided in addition to the company's Medical Plan.
• Counseling services for parents: 10 hours of counseling to parents for the first two years from the moment of having a child or adoption.

Cases of mishaps during childbirth: One month of full paid leave for the mother and one week respectively for the father, in case of an unfortunate incident during childbirth.

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15. Equal Opportunities

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Corporate culture

The company aims to create a culture that is based on fairness and respect. This includes observing Group-wide standards of conduct and protecting employees from dis-crimination, harassment and retaliation. These standards are set forth in our Fairness and Respect at Work corporate policy. Bayer employees around the world are provided with guidance on how to comply with these.

The LIFE values are firmly anchored in our company and give us orientation in aligning our business. The acronym LIFE (leadership, integrity, flexibility and efficiency) symbolizes our values and leadership principles. In 2020, we updated the attributes of the LIFE values to better align them with the new Bayer vision “Health for all, hunger for none.” The attributes define the practical importance of the individual values and the behaviors associated with them.

Gender equality

Bayer advocates the promotion of gender equality. We have endeavored for many years to achieve a better gender balance in management. For that reason, we have set our-selves clear targets that we aim to achieve by 2025.

The proportion of women in upper management in 2020 was 36.1%. The proportion of women in the Group Leadership Circle, the highest management level in the Bayer Group be-low the Board of Management, increased again compared to previous years. By the end of 2020, it was made up of 23% women (compared to 6.5% as reported in 2010) and 77% men (2010: 93.5%). The Group Leadership Circle currently comprises 35 nationalities, with around 65% of its members working in their native country.

Since February 2021, the Board of Management has again had one female member, thus meeting early the target set in 2019. The company’s Supervisory Board should be com-posed of at least 30% women or 30% men. The Supervisory Board meets this target, with women making up 35%. For more information, please see the Declaration by Corporate Management in the 2020 Annual Report.

As a signatory to the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles, we pursue an inclusive approach. Diversity is integrated into all relevant human resources processes and driven forward by the management. The seven Women’s Empowerment Principles sum up how women can be empowered in the workplace, on the employment market and in the community.

We also support the Diversity Charter corporate initiative and are a founding member of the German “Chefsache” network. Together with the other members, we develop practically oriented strategies to drive diversity and gender balance in the respective organizations.

Health Provision

“Health for all” is a core element of our corporate vision, which is why the health of our employees is of the utmost relevance for us. We have established health provision pro-grams for our employees and support their access to reliable and high-quality health care. For information on our occupational health and safety measures, please see Chapter 8.6 Occupational Health and Safety. In 2021, we maintained our global framework concept BeWell@Bayer to promote our employees’ health and quality of life. This expands the core aspect of health into a comprehensive approach, tar-gets further health improvements in the daily work environment and is intended particularly to help employees balance their professional and private lives. Health check-ups are an integral part of our global health promotion initiatives.

Our occupational health management activities include many standard preventive programs, ranging from ergonomic workplace and stress management initiatives to incentive systems to promote healthy behavior. Employees can access these programs through Bayer’s intranet and through internal and external company benefits platforms. Our employee representatives are included in occupational health management and are actively involved in its development. The Bayer European Forum – which brings together management and employee representatives – has signed the Luxembourg Declaration on Workplace Health Promotion in the EU and is committed to the principles contained therein on the implementation of workplace health promotion.

We want to provide employees in all countries with access to reliable and high-quality health care. Almost 97% of our employees worldwide either have statutory health insurance or can obtain health insurance through the company.

COVID-19 response

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have ensured that our employees worldwide are sufficiently covered by the health insurance policies that we promote as their employer for cases linked to the pandemic. Statutory changes with respect to health insurance and health care services in connection with COVID-19 are continually monitored and up-dated as necessary. In certain countries, additional health benefits were introduced to provide services beyond the statutory needs.

Work-Life Integration

We support our employees in balancing their work and private lives. To take their individual situation into account, we therefore give them the opportunity to flexibly shape their working hours and work locations and offer them parental leave and support in childcare and caring for close relatives. In many countries, our commitment in this area goes beyond the statutory requirements. An overview of the offers in each country can be found online.

The next normal

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bayer permanently expanded the flexible shaping of working hours and work locations for the employees and thus created a “next normal” in this regard. This makes it easier for the employees to meet both their work responsibilities and their private obligations.

On December 31, 2021, Bayer employed 99,637 (2020: 99,538) people worldwide. In Germany, we had 23,116 (2020: 23,398) employees, which was 23.2% of the total Group workforce (2020: 23.5%). For further employee data, please see the 2021 Annual Report.

Employment status and new hires

Within Bayer’s workforce, 3.7% of employees (1.6% women and 2.1% men) have temporary contracts. On the reporting date, our employees had worked for the Bayer Group for an average of 11.2 years (2020: 11.3). 

Learning and Training

Employees have wide-ranging ongoing training opportunities open to them. We bundle our Group-wide continuing education offerings in the Bayer Academy, which offers professional training for all employees and has received numerous international awards. Full- and part-time employees, as well as contingent workers, complete required compliance and job-specific related training through in-person and web-based courses.

Employee Development and Integration

Bayer promotes a culture of candid feedback and encourages feedback in all directions: from supervisors to employees, between colleagues and from employees to supervisors.

Our managerial employees serve as role models and play an important part in promoting performance and further developing the feedback culture at Bayer. Supervisors have the opportunity to ask their team for feedback about their leadership behavior. The Leadership Pulse feedback tool helps them to understand how their team perceives them in their role as a manager.

In 2020, Bayer’s new virtual mentoring approach became available to all full-time and part-time employees globally, enabling our people to leverage mentoring self-directly as an opportunity to develop themselves and others. The program is supported by an algorithm based on artificial intelligence that brings together mentors and mentees from throughout the Bayer Group. Since the launch, more than 2,400 employees have registered; 47% of participants are women and 53% are men.

Performance targets and development dialogue

Our employees and supervisors jointly set flexible annual targets. In consultation with their supervisors, employees can select targets of relevance for themselves and their work areas, as well as make flexible adjustments to the targets during the evaluation phase. Both individual and team targets can be set. In 2020, 72% of eligible employees set flexible annual targets, 43% of these female and 57% male.

Inclusion and Diversity

Mutual understanding and a company culture that leverages talented employees of various backgrounds and perspectives is an important success factor for the Bayer Group. We create a working environment in which all employees feel welcome and can perform at their best. We want to continue to recruit and promote employees who both have top skills and qualifications and reflect our strong focus on inclusion and diversity. We employ people from around 149 countries.

Our Inclusion & Diversity strategy focuses on the integrative behavior and decision-making of all employees within the Group. To this end, we have established committees for integration and diversity at various management levels.

Promoting inclusion and diversity

We want to increase the proportion of women in top management to 33% by 2025. The proportion of women at all further management levels (including upper and lower management) is targeted to increase to 50% by 2025. The goal is to increase the proportion of women in top management to 50% by 2030. We have also defined additional targets for 2025 and 2030 for further diversity dimensions including age structure, nationality, experience, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities. Further diversity dimensions such as ethnic background are integrated into the targets for our regional organizations.

People with disabilities are an integral part of our workforce. Based on voluntary statements by employees, we employ more than 2,150 people with disabilities in 31 countries, 46% of whom are women and 54% men. That represents around 2.1% of our total workforce. Most employees with disabilities work for our companies in Germany, where they made up 4.5% of the workforce in 2020.

Attached Files: There are no files

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Learning and Training Hours by Employee Group and Gender 2021

• Learning and training time averaged 26.2 hours per employee in 2021.
• The average cost of ongoing training per employee was €536. 

Learning and Training Hours by Category and Gender 2021

Recordable Occupational Injuries

The basis of our reporting on occupational injuries is the Recordable Incident Rate (RIR), which covers all occupational injuries and illnesses suffered by Bayer employees and employees of contractors under the direct supervision of Bayer leading to medical treatment that goes beyond basic first aid. As a result, the RIR covers injuries and occupational illnesses both with and without lost workdays. In 2021, it rose to 0.37 cases per 200,000 hours worked, which is equivalent to 441 occupational injuries worldwide (2020: 390). The RIR thus came in below the defined target for 2021 of 0.39. In statistical terms, this means that one recordable incident occurred for more than every 534,000 hours worked. Recordable injuries with lost workdays constituted 249 of the total of 441 occupational injuries, meaning that the corresponding parameter, the Lost Time Recordable Incident Rate (LTRIR), rose slightly from 0.20 in 2020 to 0.21 in The continued low number of occupational injuries was due in part to increased working from home, which was considerably expanded as a protective measure in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, 29 new cases of occupational illnesses were reported throughout the Bayer Group, 12 of them with lost workdays. These were related to the musculoskeletal system and skin reactions, among other disorders, without a clear pattern of risk areas emerging. The number of incidents corresponds to 0.1 occupational illnesses per one million hours worked.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 Chapter 8 p.99

In Greece, the company has a central system for recording accidents at work. For 2021, no accident has been reported.

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16. Qualifications

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

On December 31, 2021, Bayer employed 99,637 (2020: 99,538) people worldwide. In Germany, we had 23,116 (2020: 23,398) employees, which was 23.2% of the total Group workforce (2020: 23.5%). For further employee data, please see the 2021 Annual Report.

Employment status and new hires

Within Bayer’s workforce, 3.7% of employees (1.6% women and 2.1% men) have temporary contracts. On the reporting date, our employees had worked for the Bayer Group for an average of 11.2 years (2020: 11.3).

Demographics

We want to create an optimal working environment for our employees in all life phases and thus safeguard the long-term availability of specialists and knowledge transfer. We take a range of steps to address the individual needs of our employees by offering age-appropriate jobs in addition to health and well-being programs, flexible working arrangements and active knowledge management.

Through the Bayer Senior Experts Network (BaySEN) initia-tive, selected experts can continue to contribute their expertise even after retirement by temporarily working for Bayer in certain projects or for special tasks. In this way, BaySEN supports demographic diversity as well as cooperation and learning by different generations with and from one another.

The average age of our employees Group-wide is 42.

The demographic situation differs greatly from one region to another.

In Germany, the updated General Works Agreements on life-time working and demographic change and on addressing demographic change at the nonmanagerial level at Bayer are among the tools we use to help shape the working environment for all life phases. These General Works Agreements provide for a reduction in employee workloads that was extended to further age groups, as well as measures to ease the return to work of nonmanagerial employees after.

long-term illness, and an extensive health screening pro-gram for all employees. In 2021, more than 97% of those who were eligible took part in the program to reduce the workload of older employees. Through the BayZeit long-term account, furthermore, employees in Germany can con-vert part of their gross salary already in the early years of their employment into free time that they can later take off.

Restructuring measures

We act with social responsibility when changes and restructuring measures are necessary. In all countries, we aim to minimize the impact on employees and find mutually agreeable solutions in cases where job reductions are necessary. This is also the case in Germany, where agreements are in place with employee representatives that fundamentally rule out dismissals for operational reasons in the intercompany personnel network of Bayer AG in the country until the end of 2025.

We made further progress with the planned Group-wide measures first announced in 2018 and are at different stages of development with regard to the acceleration of our transformation announced in 2020. We anticipate that all of the major transformation measures will be implemented by the end of 2024. Flexible models with attractive conditions have been offered to employees of various age groups since February 2019.

Fair Compensation

As a global enterprise, Bayer enacts uniform standards to ensure that employees are fairly compensated throughout the Group. Our performance and responsibility-related compensation system combines a basic salary with performance-related elements, plus additional benefits. Adjustments based on continuous benchmarking make our compensation internationally competitive.

We attach great importance to equal pay for men and women, and to informing our employees transparently about the overall structure of their compensation. Our Total Re-wards corporate directive provides a binding framework specifying the global requirements.

We initiated a gender pay parity analysis in 2021 that com-pares the compensation of our female and male employees in comparable positions and within the same country. We will report on the results once the analysis has been completed.

Living wages

Bayer compensates employees on both permanent and temporary employment contracts in excess of the statutory minimum wage in the respective countries, paying at least a living wage that is annually reviewed and specified worldwide by the nonprofit organization Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). This also applies to part-time employees whose compensation was proportionately aligned with that of a full-time position. The payment of living wages is implemented at the country level and re-viewed each year by the HR enabling function to ensure that the requirements of the BSR are observed through-out the Group.

A living wage is defined as the wage that is required to purchase the goods and services needed to meet a mini-mum cultural and social standard of living in a country – including basic needs such as accommodation, energy and food, but also leisure activities, cultural participation and a savings rate. In other words, the concept of a living wage goes beyond the otherwise customary statutory minimum wage. In addition, living wages are adapted annually to changing conditions in specific countries, while statutory minimum wages usually remain unchanged for several years. Although minimum wages are legally established in many countries, they often are not sufficient to enable a living standard above the poverty line. By integrating the living wage concept into our operations, we also support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

Compensation structures at Bayer

At Bayer, individual salaries are based on each employee’s personal and professional abilities and the level of responsibility assigned to them. At the managerial level, this is based on a uniform evaluation approach for all positions through-out the Group using the internationally recognized Hay method. In areas of the Bayer Group and jobs covered by a binding collective bargaining agreement, there are no differences in pay based on gender. In the emerging markets and developing countries, compensation levels are aligned to local market conditions.

In the majority of cases, full- and part-time employees at our significant locations of operation receive the same rates of fixed and variable pay. Our compensation concept also includes variable one-time payments to recognize outstanding performance. In many countries, employee stock programs enable our staff to purchase Bayer shares at a discount. De-pending on statutory requirements, employees on temporary contracts may not be entitled to long-term compensation components such as pension plans in some countries. Be-ginning in 2021, the variable compensation of our upper managerial employees will also take into account the attainment of the Group’s sustainability targets.

Retirement benefits

Alongside providing attractive compensation for their work, Bayer contributes to the financial security of its current and former employees. Retirement benefit plans are available to 71% of Bayer employees worldwide to complement national pension systems. The benefits provided depend on the le-gal, fiscal and economic conditions in each country, employee compensation and years of service.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 (Chapter 6 73-83)

At Bayer Greece, we are committed to provide benefits that will support our people 's effort to create Science for a Better Life. Our benefits plan contributes to the health of our employees and their families, to the balance between personal and professional life, but also to their ability to grow within the company.

Indicatively, the benefits and privileges that Bayer provides to its people may include (among others):

• Private medical program for themselves and their families
• Free check-up, ophthalmological, musculoskeletal and dermatological examinations & flu vaccination
• Participation in a pension program
• Extra variable performance reward fees (depending on position)
• Remote work (depending on the role)
• Access to employee confidential support programs
• Feeding coupons (depending on the role)
• Additional days off

The following have been introduced especially for parents:

• Extension of maternity leave period: In addition to the statutory leave, Bayer gives mothers two additional months of full-time paid leave, which applies to both childbirth and adoption.
• Establish paternity leave: Up to two months full paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. The leave can be used within the first 18 months of having a child.
• Birth gift: The birth gift increases from € 250 to € 1,000 (in gross amounts), which is paid to employees after the birth of the child and is provided in addition to the company's Medical Plan.
• Counseling services for parents: 10 hours of counseling for parents for the first two years from the moment of having a child or adoption.
• Accidents during childbirth: One month full paid leave for the mother and one week respectively for the father, in case of an accident during childbirth.

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Concerning Bayer Hellas:

Percentage working women out of all Workers: 42%

Percentage full equivalents Employment women in senior positions out of the total full equivalents employment in senior positions: 42% (by coincidence)

In addition:

The company provides all employees with an additional health care program, ensuring their unhindered access to high quality health services.

The company offers seminars on issues related to personal well-being, such as healthy eating seminars, physical exercise subscriptions and seminars for the better management of professional and personal everyday life.

The company offers a 24-hour consulting service through distinguished psychologists to all employees and their families (EAP hellas supplier)

The company has organized employability workshops that enhance employees' skills to maintain high employability. In addition, it places special emphasis on the development of its people, through targeted actions, workshops etc

Also, every year the company carries out information campaigns on Health and Safety in the workplace. In 2021 the campaign was dedicated to the importance of mental health protection and work-life balance

All of the above have been adapted to the needs arising from the pandemic.

https://bayergroup-my.sharepoint.com/personal/argyro_xagorari_bayer_com/Documents/Personal%20Data/2022/HSE/Sustainability/BeWell@Bayer%202022_CLT%20presentation.pptx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ditbqGHON2c&list=PLiFWvSq3KItP_3FDLnRdfJGFVMf--Ssx8&index=12

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17. Human Rights in the supply chain

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Bayer is a founding member of the U.N. Global Compact and respects the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We support the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which are among the most important international standards for preventing and combating possible human rights violations in connection with business activities, and globally recognized declarations applicable for multinational corporations. These include the OECD Guidelines for Multi-national Enterprises, the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the latter’s core labor standards.

We also expect our business partners, and particularly our suppliers, to fully observe human rights. We expect our suppliers to comply with the requirements of our Supplier Code of Conduct, which is based on our Bayer Human Rights Policy, the principles of the U.N. Global Compact and the core labor standards of the ILO.

Human rights are among the responsibilities of the Chairman of the Bayer Board of Management. In his role as Chief Sustainability Officer, he is supported as regards the topic of human rights by the Ethics and Social Impact Team of the Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability enabling function. The implementation of our human rights standards in business operations is regulated by corporate regulations, processes and management and monitoring systems.

We use a Group-wide, integrated risk management system to identify potentially detrimental effects of our business activity on human rights. The Bayer Risk Universe is regularly reviewed and, if necessary, updated. The increase in internal and external requirements as regards human rights is reflected in our risk management.

We are currently focusing on further developing our human rights strategy. The first step in this process was to work with an external consulting company to analyze the status quo in our own company and along the entire value chain, aligning this to the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. On the basis of this, we aim to introduce in 2021 a comprehensive, long-term strategy for respecting human rights

Implementation Measures

We implement measures to ensure respect for human rights both within our own company and along our entire value chain. Child and forced labor are strictly prohibited at Bayer in accordance with the core labor standards of the ILO. The binding nature of this global ban is established in both our Human Rights Policy and our Supplier Code of Conduct.

We verify the observation of human rights at our sites and by our suppliers, including by means of Bayer audits. In 2020, our auditors identified a limited number of violations against applicable worktime regulations and established minimum wages in our supply chain. In each of these cases, we actively cooperated with our suppliers to improve the situation for employees in a timely fashion.

Challenges in the supply chain

As regards the topic of human rights, we are focusing especially on our supply chains because they connect us with several million “rights holders” – in other words people who are directly or indirectly impacted by our activities. Procurement undertakes a classification of the sustainability risk of our suppliers for this purpose. This risk classification encompasses all procurement countries and categories such as services and seed production, the latter also including seasonal workers. This process, which we revised together with an external partner in 2020, enables us to identify human rights risks by country and category. That in turn allows us to address these risks more directly in the future. For more information, please see Chapter 4 Procurement.

In its supply chain management activities, Bayer undertakes to achieve transparency in the fight against modern slavery. For more information, please see our Modern Slavery Act Statement.

The risk of human rights violations poses a particular challenge for Bayer in the seed supply chain. The focus here is on the risk of child labor.

Combating child labor

Our position on child labor is quite clear – it is not tolerated at Bayer. The employment of children in farming represents a high risk outside our own operations. We therefore obligate our suppliers to strictly refrain from employing children. Through our Child Care Program, Bayer for years has taken systematic action to prevent child labor in the seed supply chain. The program is established in India, Bangladesh and the Philippines – the countries in which we identified the potential for child labor infractions through our risk assessment.

Through our Child Care Program, we raise awareness about this problem among our suppliers and clearly communicate our requirements. It involves systematic and repeated inspections of individual seed producers in their fields by local Bayer employees.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 202 (Chapter 4 p.64-65

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Significant investment agreements and contracts that include human rights clauses or that underwent human rights screening

Suppliers must already commit to our core principles upon registration. Furthermore, our standard supply contracts (with the exception of existing contracts of the acquired agricultural business) contain a clause that authorizes us to verify suppliers’ compliance with our sustainability requirements. For the existing supplier contracts in the acquired agricultural business, this clause will be successively integrated beginning in 2021 as the contracts are updated. Our Code of Conduct is supplemented by a global guidance document, which, like the Supplier Code of Conduct, is integrated into our registration portal for suppliers.

Operations that have been subject to human rights reviews or impact assessments

In 2020, our auditors identified a limited number of violations against applicable worktime regulations and established minimum wages in our supply chain. In each of these cases, we actively cooperated with our suppliers to improve the situation for employees in a timely fashion.

In 2020/2021, we uncovered a total of 40 cases of child labor among our seed suppliers in India (see table below). No cases of child labor were identified in Bangladesh or the Philippines over the same period.

New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

As the reported procedure for evaluating our suppliers (including according to social criteria) includes the new suppliers, we do not report the percentage of new suppliers separately.

Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

Local suppliers are always assessed based on the global processes and standards.

https://bayergroup-my.sharepoint.com/personal/argyro_xagorari_bayer_com/Documents/Personal%20Data/2022/HSE/Sustainability/supplier-code-of-conduct-english_1.pdf

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18. Corporate Citizenship

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Bayer assumes responsibility worldwide for social needs in keeping with our corporate purpose “Science for a better life” and our vision “Health for all, hunger for none.” Our engagement focuses on people who are actively involved in the fields of education, science and health and committed to improving living conditions through social innovation. Our three company foundations and our corporate donations play an important role here.

Management Approach

Bayer’s social engagement comprises extensive donation activities and the local granting of financial and material do-nations – in part through our company foundations – for charitable causes. We comply with the applicable laws and codices in these activities. We also observe the “Guidelines for medicine donations” of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Group-wide donation allocation and management policies ensure that donations, grants and foundation funds are deployed in a targeted and appropriate way, correspond with our strategic alignment and are based on Bayer’s core competencies. The Board of Management is directly involved in major donation decisions.

Our funding priorities included the areas of science and education, social innovation in health and nutrition, combating the COVID-19 pandemic, and projects in the communities near our sites.  In 2021, more than 400 social projects worldwide were recorded.

63% of our contributions (cash and product) went to low- and middle-income countries to strengthen the capacity of underserved communities and to combat social inequality. With 88 countries targeted through our giving, the geographic split of our monetary donations is as follows:

Foundation Activities at Bayer

Most of our activities are combined within three company-linked foundations that operate worldwide:

// Bayer Science & Education Foundation (focused on leading-edge research, scientific education and talent promotion)

// Bayer Cares Foundation (focused on social innovation in health, agriculture and nutrition)

// Bayer Fund (United States) (focused on community pro-jects, education, nutrition and disaster aid)

The yearly alignment of all programs is coordinated by a Board of Trustees staffed with members from inside and outside the company. In general, committees composed of independent experts decide on the awarding of research prizes and scholarships. A newly founded committee called the Science Council was established for the Bayer Science & Education Foundation in 2020 and is composed of five internationally renowned scientists.

Bayer Hellas continues to support Fireathon. with the purpose to develop technological solutions for fire safety detection, recording, firefighting and fire protection, through its collaboration with the NGOs Science Communication (SciCo) and ScienceForYou (SciFY). Firethon is the part of the holistic approach of Bayer to contribute in the relief of the environmental  burden caused by the wild fires in Attica, Evia and Peloponnese. As part of this program Bayer Hellas works also together with We4all, for replanting the affected areas with more than 2.000 trees and with the volunteer support with each employee. in addition, Bayer together with Desmos NGO renovate NHS regional centers affected by the wild fires.    

An overview of this holistic approach can be found:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK9NsrIwSoQ&list=PLiFWvSq3KItP_3FDLnRdfJGFVMf--Ssx8&index=13

Further local activities: 

Support to Aegean Team, with monetary donations to cover medical equipment, medical exams and infrastructure to the isolated island in Greece. We are working to gather with Aegean Team the last 10 years

Support The Hemophilia Patients Association with awareness campaigns about the disease and hydrotherapy/ physiotherapy sessions for all members, in order to gain a normal life

Support all the initiatives of SfEE in medicines and medical supplies donations, especially in fellowships for students with excellent performance during 2022. In addition and in order to enhance the position of women in science Bayer Hellas together with IV united NGO gives scholarships for women researchers in Life Sciences.

Bayer Hellas expands its support to the local innovation ecosystem  with the program Level-up/G4A . The purpose of the program is to support local start ups and university teams  to develop efficiently their ideas in vivid companies. This activity aims to support local economy and to arise the visibility of Greek ideas abroad.

Through the  program, Healthcare Accelerator, we increase awareness among students in Life Sciences on the clinical research as a valid option for their careers and we support the education of HCPs on Good practices in Clinical trials, together with distinguish partners as Medical Society of Athens, University of Athens, of Crete and Patras. Also, we support the development of innovative telemedicine solutions in the universities.

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Direct Economic Value

By delivering innovative products and solutions, Bayer creates value for its stakeholders at all stages of the value chain. We operate production sites worldwide, invest in research and development, work with international and local suppliers and contribute to the economic development of our target markets. As an employer, we provide jobs in industrialized, emerging and developing economies and therefore create purchasing power through the salaries we pay. We contribute to public finances and thus support public infrastructure through the payment of taxes and other levies.

We define value added as the company’s total operating performance in the previous fiscal year (net sales + other operating income + financial income + net income/loss from investments accounted for using the equity method) less the costs of procured and consumed goods and services, depreciation, amortization, impairment losses and impairment loss reversals.

Our total operating performance amounted to €43.7 billion in 2020. The cost of materials and other expenses totaled €36.2 billion. We recorded depreciation, amortization, impairment losses and impairment loss reversals of €13.3 bil-lion. Due to the high special charges in relation to litigations and the impairments taken at Crop Science, we posted a negative value added of €5.8 billion in 2020.

Despite the expected negative special items in 2020, we made a positive financial contribution to our stakeholders: employees €9.8 billion, taxes €1.5 billion, providers of equity and debt €1.5 billion and stockholders €2 billion (Bayer AG dividend proposal for 2020).

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19. Initiatives and Political Influence

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Bayer’s commitment to ensuring transparent lobbying forms part of our BASE principles. In line with this, our Code of Conduct for Responsible Lobbying sets out binding rules for our involvement in political matters, covers compliance-relevant risks and creates transparency in our interactions with the representatives of political institutions.

As set out in this corporate regulation, Bayer as a company does not make any donations to political parties, politicians or candidates for political office. An exception to this rule exists in the United States, where donations to candidates and politicians are part of the political culture. Direct and indirect donations by companies to political candidates and parties are prohibited at the federal level. Against this background, employees of numerous companies support individual candidates for parliamentary office by making private donations through political action committees, or PACs. These voluntary donations are made only by employees, not the company. PACs are separate, segregated funds governed by employees and further regulated by the U.S. Federal Election Commission and some state governments.

Decisions on how these contributions are allocated are made by an independent committee composed of employees. At BayPac, the name of the corresponding committee at Bayer, new allocation criteria were introduced in 2020 to reflect societal challenges, among other factors. For example, candidates’ positions on issues such as climate change and the protection of biodiversity play an important role here. BayPac also undertakes to support candidates from both parties. These donations are subject to stringent conditions and mandatory transparency measures. The BayPac contributions are regularly reported to the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC). Full details can be viewed on the FEC website. BayPac does not support presidential candidates. A total of US$458,550 was donated to political candidates at all levels through BayPac in 2020.

In view of its activities at numerous sites in the United States, Bayer has decided to make corporate donations at the state level. These amounted to a total of US$499,850 at the state level in 2020.

In other countries, industry associations of which we are a member (such as the German Chemical Industry Association) sometimes make donations on their own responsibility in observance of the respective statutory regulations, and particularly laws concerning political parties.

For Bayer, national liaison offices are key touchpoints be-tween the company and political stakeholders. We publish details of material costs, project expenses, employee numbers and any of the other statistics required in each country, for example in the transparency registers of the European institutions and the U.S. Congress. In 2020, the costs incurred at the liaison offices totaled approximately €2 million in Berlin, Ger-many; €2.4 million in Brussels, Belgium; €8.5 million in Washington, D.C., United States; €0.3 million in Moscow, Russia; €1 million in Brasília, Brazil; and €1.6 million in Beijing, China.

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Bayer Hellas is a member of:

• SFEE, Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies,
• PIF, Pharma Innovation Forum
• ESYF, Hellenic Crop Protection Association,
• EFEX,
• PSVAK,
• Hellenic - German Chamber of Commerce,
• American - Hellenic Chamber of Commerce

As Bayer as a company does not make any donations to political parties, politicians or candidates for political office, there are zero political contributions in Greece.

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20. Corruption prevention and alleviation

ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Bayer manages its businesses responsibly and in compliance with the statutory requirements and regulations of the countries in which it operates. We define compliance as le-gally and ethically impeccable conduct by all employees in their daily work, because the way they each carry out their duties affects our company’s reputation. We do not tolerate any violation of laws, codes of conduct or internal regulations. Compliance is essential for our long-term commercial success.

Bayer compliance management

The Board of Management is unreservedly committed to compliance, and Bayer will forgo any business transaction that would violate any of the 10 principles in our Corporate Compliance Policy observed throughout the Bayer Group. These principles are as follows:

// We compete fairly in every market.

// We act with integrity in all our business dealings.

// We balance economic growth with ecological and social responsibility.

// We observe trade controls that regulate our global business.

// We safeguard equal opportunity in securities trading.

// We keep accurate books and records.

// We treat each other with fairness and respect.

// We protect and respect intellectual property rights.

// We act in Bayer’s best interest.

// We protect and secure personal data.

All employees are required to observe the compliance principles and to immediately report any violation of the Corporate Compliance Policy. Infringements are sanctioned. This applies in particular to managerial employees, who, for example, may lose their entitlement to variable compensation components and be subject to further disciplinary measures if violations have occurred in their sphere of responsibility. Compliant and lawful conduct is also factored into the performance evaluations of all managerial employees.

The global compliance management system is steered by a central compliance organization within the Bayer Group. This organization is headed by the Group Compliance Officer, who, in this capacity, reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and to the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board. The CFO is responsible for the compliance organization, while the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board oversees the effectiveness and further development of compliance within the Group. Within the compliance organization, specialized compliance managers are responsible for establishing business-, industry- and country-specific standards.

Potential compliance risks (such as corruption) are identified together with the operational units to ensure the systematic and preventive detection and assessment of risks. Potential risks are then entered into global databases that we use to develop suitable measures for specific processes, business activities or countries, for example. In addition, we assess our business partners according to risk criteria as we look to identify potential compliance risks.

Adherence to the corporate compliance principles is among the subjects covered in audits conducted by Bayer’s Internal Audit and in the analyses and investigations by the legal and compliance organization. The heads of these organizations provide regular reports on the findings of the audits and analyses to the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board, while summary reports are presented at least once a year.

The planning of these audits by Internal Audit follows a function- and risk-based approach that also takes the Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International into account. Function-specific audits are conducted worldwide across all important corporate units, such as for marketing and distribution. The larger businesses and units are audited at shorter intervals, and the smaller units at longer intervals.

Suspected compliance violations can be reported – anonymously if desired and if permitted by respective national law – to a worldwide compliance hotline operated by an independent service provider. Suspected violations can be reported either via the internet or through a phone call made in the caller’s preferred language and answered by independent specialists. The hotline is also accessible to the general public. In 2021, the compliance organization received a total of 299 compliance reports in this way (including 208 anonymous reports), with 27 reports coming from Germany and 272 from other countries.

In addition, an internal mailbox – the so-called “Speak-Up Inbox” – was introduced in 2020 for the submission of suspected compliance violations. Alternatively, suspected violations may also be reported to the respective compliance functions or to Internal Audit. Since 2021, furthermore, it has been possible to report suspected compliance violations through a newly implemented platform in the form of an incident request.

Compliance violations include all possible types of infringements of internal and external requirements and are systematically sanctioned. The action taken depends on factors including the gravity of the violation and applicable law. All cases are recorded according to uniform criteria throughout the Bayer Group and dealt with under the rules set forth in Bayer’s Group Regulation on Management of Compliance Incidents. Where an investigation confirms that a compliance violation has occurred, the company has a graduated set of measures at its disposal. These include a verbal warning or written reprimand, transfer to a different unit, cancellation of a planned promotion, a reduction in the short-term incentive payment, downgrading to a lower collectively agreed pay rate or managerial contract level, and ordinary or extraordinary termination. Bayer also reserves the right to assert further claims against the employee for cost reimbursement or damages and/or to initiate criminal proceedings.

Compliance training and communications activities

We support all employees in acting with integrity and proactively avoiding potential violations by implementing Bayerwide training measures and communication campaigns that are tailored to target groups and based on identified needs. The Corporate Compliance Policy forms the basis of our compliance communication and training activities. Both supervisors and compliance managers are available to answer employees’ questions about lawful and ethical behavior.

Each year, the company publishes a new, obligatory training course for all Bayer employees. In 2021, around 95.0% (39,853) of Bayer’s managerial employees worldwide completed at least one compliance training program. We launched a new web-based training program in 94 countries dealing with the topic of data privacy, which is also addressed in our Corporate Compliance Policy. The web-based training program is available in 20 languages and had been completed by around 90.2% (92,597) of our employees as of December 31, 2021.

Our annual, company-wide “Speak Up” campaign to foster an open reporting culture communicates the various options for reporting compliance violations. This is designed to create an environment in which compliance violations can be addressed without reservations.

Data privacy

Data is very important in today’s world – it is often accessible worldwide and its financial value is growing. As a result, people have an increasing interest in their data remaining secure. Bayer is committed to protecting the personal data of all its stakeholders, be they employees, business partners, stockholders, suppliers or customers. Fulfilling this commitment is an important business principle and a central condition for the company’s success. Since there is no globally binding data privacy law, legislation varies widely from country to country.

To establish a standard for all countries in which Bayer operates, a Groupwide approach is required. This is the only way to ensure personal data is afforded sufficient protection while at the same time facilitating efficient business processes. The Group Regulation on Data Privacy sets out minimum requirements for the way personal data is processed throughout the Bayer Group.

Bayer strives to protect people’s privacy and prevent their data from being misused. We are aware of the potential harm caused by unlawful data processing and have therefore established a standard to minimize this risk. The data privacy management system addresses risk situations that are relevant to the company’s business. The system covers the entire data life cycle: from collection, transfer, analysis and storage to deletion. The core elements of the data privacy management system – the maintenance of a processing registry, the management of data leaks, inquiries from affected individuals and risk mitigation – are mandatory. Training and guidance along with system-based monitoring ensure the regulations are adhered to.

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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Operations assessed for risks related to corruption

A total of 90 audit reports were compiled in 2020, of which 11 concerned preventive compliance system audits or incident-related investigations. The reduction in the number of audit reports compared with 2019 (125 audit reports) was primarily due to travel restrictions caused by the COVD-19 pandemic. In addition, not all audits can be carried out re-motely as an alternative

Complete coverage is crucial for compliance/anti-corruption in the first instance. Areas at risk are monitored more frequently than others. As major businesses and parts of companies are subject to shorter audit cycles and smaller units to longer cycles.

See more Bayer Sustainability Report 2021 Chapter 2.6, 2.8 p22-25, 26

Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures

Anti-corruption training for employees is implemented globally.  In 2020, around 94% (38,132) of Bayer’s managerial employees worldwide completed at least one compliance training program. For Greece this percentage was 100%! Furthermore, we launched a new web-based training program in 89 countries, including Greece, covering the giving and accepting of gifts as well as interactions with public officials and health care professionals, with these topics also ad-dressed in our Corporate Compliance Policy. The video training program is available in 10 languages and had been completed by around 65% (81,550) of our employees as of December 31, 2020.

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