BASF

Lobbying
The company discloses a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company also discloses an action plan to address misalignment, which includes clear escalation steps.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company discloses the proportion of high-risk commodities which are conversion-free. The company provides evidence that it has achieved 100% conversion-free supply chains for all its relevant high-risk commodities.

Water
The company engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal.

Solid and air pollution
The company discloses the proportion of hazardous waste treated to reduce pollution compared to total waste, the hazardous waste diverted from disposal and the waste directed to disposal.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the social inclusion and community impact measurement area.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. While the company has sustainability targets, it does not have relevant targets for all key sustainability topics based on the SBTN Sectoral Materiality Tool. It does, however, report consistently on progress against all the targets it has. The company discloses sustainability management, but its risks are managed at a local level, and not group wide. No evidence was found that the company links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities but does not disclose its process for engaging with stakeholder groups beyond its materiality assessment.

Lobbying
The company discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates. While the company reports no misalignment with its industry associations, it discloses only a limited selection of trade associations.

Impact and dependencies assessment
While the company evaluates biodiversity impacts of its products and solutions, there is no evidence that it applies biodiversity impact assessments to all of its business units within its own operations. The company does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its supply chain. The company does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations or its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
The company discloses the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations. However, it does not disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations or its suppliers. The company does not disclose the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company has a commitment to ensure zero conversion and discloses some activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains. These include policies, progress reports and achieved targets related to 100% conversion-free palm oil sourcing. The company also has time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company is not committed to restoring ecosystems, nor does it disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
The company does not disclose its inputs, including its material footprint. The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance, nor does it disclose efforts to improve soil health.

Water
The company demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations, although it does not disclose an associated time-bound target. It does report how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas but does not report a decrease in water pollution. The company discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company also regularly reports on water pollution but does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water, nor does it disclose its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations.

Solid and air pollution
The company does not disclose reducing the production of hazardous substances. The company does not commit to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. The company does not report reduction in the production of hazardous waste. The company does not report reducing plastic use and waste in its own operations. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. On the other hand, the company reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants, although it does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
The company is reducing its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. It has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions, and reports progress against the target. However, the target is not aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory. The company is also reducing its scope 3 emissions but does not disclose a time-bound reduction target for scope 3 emissions.

Invasive species
The company has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its own operations.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company does not disclose if it is committed to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment or to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities. Nor does the company disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. The company does not require its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

The company has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities. In addition, the company has an opportunity to describe a process for assessing the human rights risks it has identified and to disclose what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. A description of this process would include how relevant factors, such as geographical, economic and social, are considered. The company does not clearly describe its global system to take action to prevent, mitigate or remediate its salient human rights issues. There is no evidence that the company provides an example of the conclusions reached and actions taken or to be taken on at least one of its salient human rights issues as a result of assessment processes. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. The company discloses information related to its engagement with its stakeholder in general on human rights issues. However, it does not provide examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities (or their legitimate representatives or multi-stakeholder initiatives) in the last two years.

The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers, as well as a publicly available policy statement which shows it expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers. There is no evidence that the company discloses a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage, nor is there evidence that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. On the other hand, the company describes how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. The company has an opportunity to disclose the coverage of collective bargaining agreements, and how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

BASF discloses a global tax strategy. The company takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption and includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. In a public policy statement, the company discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement. It specifies that it does not make political contributions.