Commitments to Promote the Participation of Women in Leadership Positions at BASF SE

• Minimum quota on Supervisory Board, target figures for Board of Executive Directors and top management

The supervisory board of a publicly listed European stock corporation (SE) that is composed of the same number of shareholder and employee representatives must, according to section 17(2) of the SE Implementation Act, consist of at least 30% women and 30% men. Since the 2018 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, the Supervisory Board of BASF SE comprises four women, of whom two are shareholder representatives and two are employee representatives, and eight men. The Supervisory Board’s composition meets the statutory requirements.

As a target figure for the Board of Executive Directors, the Supervisory Board determined that, in accordance with section 111(5) AktG for the second target-attainment period after the law’s entry into force, which began on January 1, 2017, the Board of Executive Directors should continue to have at least one female member. This represented 12.5% on the date the target was set (based on eight members of the Board of Executive Directors), and represents 16.7% as of January 1, 2020 (based on six Board members). With the appointment of Dr. Melanie Maas-Brunner to the Board of Executive Directors, effective as of February 1, 2021, there will be two female Board members. The proportion of women will be 33.3% upon Wayne T. Smith’s departure on May 31, 2021.

The Board of Executive Directors also decided on target figures for the proportion of women in the two management levels below the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE: Women are to make up 12.1% of the leadership level directly below the Board, and the level below that is to comprise 7.3% women. This corresponds to the status at the time these target figures were determined. The deadline for achieving the goals for the second target-attainment period was set for December 31, 2021. The goals for the second target-attainment period were reached ahead of schedule at the end of 2019.

BASF views the further development and promotion of women as a global duty independent of individual Group companies. It has committed to ambitious targets that were further raised in 2020. The new target is to increase the proportion of women in leadership worldwide to 30% by 2030. BASF will continue to work systematically on expanding the percentage of women in its leadership team. To achieve this, global measures will be implemented and enhanced continuously.