Measuring value added by sustainability and harnessing business opportunities

• Value to Society: method for assessing economic, environmental and social impact of business activities along the value chain

We take advantage of business opportunities by offering our customers innovative products and solutions that contribute to sustainable development. We ensure that sustainability criteria are integrated into our business units’ development and implementation of strategies, research projects and innovation processes. For example, we analyze sustainability-related market trends in customer industries to systematically exploit new business opportunities.

We want to measure the value proposition of our actions along the entire value chain, aware that our business activities are connected to both positive and negative impacts on the environment and society. We strive to increase our positive contribution to society and minimize the negative effects of our business activities.

In order to achieve this, we need to understand how our actions impact society and the environment. We already have many years of experience evaluating our products and processes using methods such as eco-efficiency analyses, the Sustainable Solution Steering^® portfolio analysis, or BASF’s corporate carbon footprint.

Building on this, BASF has developed a method with external experts to perform a monetary assessment of the economic, ecological, and social impacts of its business activities along the value chain – the Value to Society approach. It enables a direct comparison between financial and nonfinancial effects on society, along with how these interact.

This transparency supports the integrated character of our actions, contributing to BASF’s long-term success. The results of these assessments are helpful in our discussions with stakeholders, in internal progress measurements, and in decision-making processes.

We contribute our approach and expertise to current debates on the monetary value of the economic, environmental and social impact of business decisions. We share our experience in networks and are involved in the corresponding standardization processes within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Among other initiatives, BASF has participated in the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism’s Embankment Project since 2017. In the project, leading global companies and investors are working on a common understanding of how companies can create value over the long term. The initiative aims to strengthen trust in business and in this way, generate long-term corporate value.

As well as measuring the impacts of our operations, our business activities are guided by sustainability considerations.