BASF Report 2021 Management’s Report – Biodiversity 138 Biodiversity land-use change, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation own initiatives, such as our rambutan program. This was launched GRI 102, 103, 304 and pollution. Our analysis showed that our impacts along the value in 2014 in close collaboration with partners in Vietnam to source SUPPLIERS BASF CUSTOMERS chain mainly relate to the drivers of climate change, land-use change botanical ingredients for cosmetic products from certified organic and pollution. We counteract the climate change driver of bio- rambutan gardens. In cooperation with local farmers and NGOs, Biodiversity describes the variety of life forms on Earth. Low diversity loss – and in this way, help to preserve biodiversity – with BASF’s program promotes the preservation of biodiverse habitats, flora and fauna diversity weakens ecosystems’ ability to our climate protection measures, which play an integral role in all our as well as good agricultural practices, gender equity and fair working withstand changes such as climate change. As a chemical impact areas (see page 126). conditions. company, we depend on ecosystem services like the avail- ability of renewable resources and high air, water and soil We use various methods to measure our sustainability perfor- Our position on forest protection sets out our commitment to quality, while also influencing them. Protecting biodiversity is mance that implicitly and explicitly consider relevant risks and preserving biodiversity in areas of High Conservation Value such as a key element of our commitment to sustainability. opportunities for biodiversity. These include the Eco-Efficiency High Carbon Stock forest areas and peatlands in the procurement ®, Sustainable Solution Steering, Value to Analysis, SEEbalance of renewable raw materials. BASF participated in the “Forests” Society, AgBalance® and the corresponding biodiversity calculator. assessment conducted by the international organization CDP for At a glance Under Value to Society, we assess land use along value chains, the second time in 2021 and achieved a score of A–, again giving it ▪ Strategic alignment of our biodiversity measures based on among other things. Newly developed assessment methods help us Leadership status. CPD is a nonprofit organization that evaluates impact assessments to understand further influences on biodiversity. On the basis of this companies’ management of the environmental risks and opportuni- ▪ Commitment to preserving biodiversity along the entire value understanding, we seek dialog with partners and enter into strategic ties relating to forests, among other things. The assessment is chain with strategic partnerships partnerships, through which we drive forward measures to protect conducted based on detailed insights into the palm value chain and biodiversity around the world. activities that impact ecosystems and natural habitats. Strategy Responsibility to our supply chains Responsibility to our sites and production BASF sees the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity Some of the business activities of our raw material suppliers involve Preservation of biodiversity is taken into consideration in the and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – including Life land uses that can influence biodiversity (biodiversity loss driver: manage ment of our sites. We operate our facilities in a responsible below water (SDG 14) and Life on land (SDG 15) – as important land-use change). We have laid down our expectations of our sup- manner and minimize negative effects on the environment (bio- orientation and reference frameworks. Our measures help to pre- pliers with regard to environmental, labor and social standards in the diversity loss driver: pollution) by keeping air, water and soil emissions serve biodiversity and meet our responsibility to maintaining the supply chain in the Supplier Code of Conduct (see page 109). as low as possible and reducing and avoiding waste (see page 133 wellbeing of the environment and society. Our corporate sustain- for more information). ability goals on climate protection, product portfolio, circular eco- BASF procures a variety of renewable raw materials. In the procure- nomy, water management and responsible procurement also help ment of palm and palm kernel oil in particular, there is an elevated Our site management measures consider our impact on the bio- to protect biodiversity. risk that forest areas are cleared to create farmland. To improve diversity loss driver of land-use change. For example, given the sustainability in procurement, we established the BASF Palm Com- rele vance of conservation areas to preserving diversity, we check We align our biodiversity measures with the impact of our business mitment in 2011, which was updated in 2015 and is implemented how close our production sites are to internationally recognized activities along the value chain. Our focus here is on three impact with our Palm Sourcing Policy. Third-party certification with stan- conservation areas. In 2021, we included this indicator in our areas: supply chains, sites and production, and product impact. We dards such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) environmental database. This allows us to raise awareness of bio- analyzed these in an internal workshop according to the five drivers standard enables us to take biodiversity criteria into account when diversity at local level and draw attention to potential impacts of our of biodiversity loss as defined by the Intergovernmental Science- purchasing raw materials (see page 113). We are also committed to sites on these areas. Four percent of our production sites are Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. These are the environmental sustainability of other supply chains through our adjacent to a Ramsar site and 1% are adjacent to a category I, II or