Societal Engagement

Societal engagement is a cornerstone of our corporate social responsibility. Through our activities, we want to strengthen the communities surrounding our sites worldwide, help achieve the SDGs, and have a positive long-term impact on the environment and society. Based on our business model and competencies, we aim to support and protect health, skills and resources, contributing to a sustainable future for individuals and society.

One example of our contribution to public health is our cooperation with the non-governmental organization (NGO) Beyond Suncare, which aims to protect people with albinism from skin cancer, discrimination and attacks. The NGO has a long history of working with BASF to develop and provide sunscreen products that address the specific challenges of people with albinism in the sub-Saharan region. BASF provides its know-how and ingredients free of charge. Together, Beyond Suncare and BASF developed an innovative sunscreen product that reduces the risk of skin cancer among the vulnerable population. This is just one example of how this initiative is improving the quality of life, safety and dignity of people with albinism in Africa.

Education is key to personal success and the future viability of society. That is why BASF is committed to working with partners at numerous sites to achieve greater educational equality, especially for disadvantaged children and young people. BASF has been foster­ing curiosity and stimulating an interest in science for 25 years now with BASF Kids’ Labs. The experimentation programs have since reached approximately 1.2 million children in 45 countries. Since 2011, they have been complemented by the Virtual Lab, which has been used by around half a million children to date.

BASF aims to contribute to more education for sustainable development with the Young Voices for a Sustainable Future project. More than 1,000 young people across eight countries were empowered to recognize and address the consequences of climate change in their communities. With their project proposals, participants used their potential to draw attention to challenges and help to eliminate them. The young people were supported by more than 80 BASF employees.

We aim to create long-term value for BASF and society with new business models and cross-sector partnerships. Our Starting Ventures program helps people from low-income areas to improve their economic opportunities and their quality of life. The program also provides access to new markets and partners and contributes to achieving the SDGs. Eight new Starting Ventures projects were selected for implementation in December 2022. BASF is tackling challenges on the ground together with local partners and contributing to the SDGs with entrepreneurial ideas, technical expertise and time resources. One project under our Starting Ventures program is the Waste-2-Chemicals project in Lagos, Nigeria. In the project, plastic waste is collected by local residents, sorted and then converted into pyrolysis oil. This pyrolysis oil is available as feedstock for the production of high-quality chemical products. In cooperation with nonprofit organizations, this enables local waste collectors and their families to earn a regular income.

In the area of international development cooperation, we support the independent charitable BASF Stiftung with donations for its projects in cooperation with various organizations. The 2022 year-end donation campaign in favor of BASF Stiftung supported the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, to provide children and their families in the Horn of Africa with access to food and water. BASF topped up the donations made by employees of participating German Group companies to a total of around €458,000.

In 2022, BASF also made donations to support people affected by the Russian attack on Ukraine. To this end, BASF initially provided €1 million in emergency aid to the German Red Cross in February 2022. In April, BASF additionally doubled the amount donated as part of the global employee fundraising campaign “#Colleagues­ForUkraine” (€2,110,156 in total) to around €4.2 million. The donations benefited BASF employees from Ukraine through BASF Stiftung and Ukrainian refugees through the U.N. Refugee Agency.

In addition, BASF supported those affected by natural disasters. For example, we support the National Disaster Management Authority in Pakistan with mosquito nets and pest control products to protect the population in flooded areas.

• More information on Starting Ventures
• More information on societal engagement at our sites
• More information on our societal engagement around the world