Corporate Due Diligence

ESRS 2 GOV-4

We are committed to doing business in a responsible and respectful manner, as exemplified by our corporate values and our global standards. Our actions are guided by applicable laws and regulations; in some cases, our voluntary commitments go beyond what is required. We also adhere to internationally recognized principles.

We respect and promote

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations (U.N.) and the two U.N. Human Rights Covenants
• The Ten Principles of the U.N. Global Compact
• The core labor standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy
• The U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
• The International Council of Chemical Associations’ Responsible Care^® Global Charter
• The German Corporate Governance Code

We stipulate binding rules for our employees with our standards and requirements that apply throughout the Group. Our aim is to prevent compliance violations from the outset through compulsory training for all employees and additional offerings for leaders. The Corporate Audit unit continuously monitors compliance with these requirements. The head of our Corporate Legal, Compliance & Insurance unit also acts as Chief Human Rights Officer and oversees the overarching risk management system with regard to human rights issues.

We fulfill our responsibility to behave in accordance with international and social standards largely in three ways: through our Compliance Program, including our Code of Conduct and Compliance Hotline; through close dialog with stakeholders; and through the global management process to respect international labor and social standards.

We regularly assess our performance in environmental protection, health and safety as part of our Responsible Care Management System, which also covers audits, for example.

We expect our business partners to comply with prevailing laws, regulations and internationally recognized principles. We have clearly defined our expectations in our Supplier Code of Conduct. We monitor our business partners in the area of sales for potential compliance risks based on our global Business Partner Due Diligence requirements using a checklist, a questionnaire and an internet-based analysis. The results are then documented. If business partners are not prepared to answer the questionnaire, we do not enter into a business relationship with them. We have established control mechanisms accordingly.

More information on our due diligence requirements is provided in the chapters of this Sustainability Statement specified below (see the following table):

ESRS 2 IRO-2

Our double materiality assessment evaluated the topic category S4 Consumers and End Users – as not material given that only a very small portion of our products are sold directly to end users. We provide material information on product safety and product stewardship in E2 Pollution Prevention.