BASF Report 2024

Corporate Governance Report

Please note

With the exception of the “Disclosures according to sections 289a and 315a of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and explanatory report of the Board of Executive Directors according to section 176(1) sentence 1 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG),” the content of this section is not part of the statutory audit but is part of a separate audit with limited assurance.

The content of this section is not part of the statutory audit of the annual financial statements but has undergone a separate limited assurance by our auditor.

The content of this section is voluntary, unaudited information, which was critically read by the auditor.

Corporate governance refers to the entire system for managing and supervising a company. This includes its organization, values, corporate principles and guidelines as well as internal and external control and monitoring mechanisms. Effective and transparent corporate governance ensures that BASF is managed and supervised responsibly with a focus on value creation and sustainability. It fosters the confidence of our investors, the financial markets, our customers and other business partners, employees, other groups affiliated with our company (stakeholders) as well as the public in BASF.

The fundamental elements of BASF SE’s corporate governance system are: its two-tier management system, with a transparent and clear separation of company management and supervision between BASF’s Board of Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board; the equal representation of shareholders and employee representatives on the Supervisory Board; and the shareholders’ rights of coadministration and supervision at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting.

Circular economy
The circular economy is a regenerative system in which economic growth is decoupled from the consumption of finite resources. The circular economy is based on the fundamental principles of preventing waste and pollution, using products and materials for as long as possible and regenerating natural systems at the same time.
Double materiality
Double materiality as defined by the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) is a concept that is applied in the materiality assessment. The principle of double materiality looks at sustainability aspects from two perspectives: 1. Impact materiality, which determines the actual and potential positive and negative impacts of business activities have on various sustainability topics. 2. Financial materiality, which considers the opportunities and risks of sustainability topics for a company’s financial position.
Substances of concern or very high concern
Substances of concern (SoC) are chemical substances which, if handled improperly, may have potentially harmful effects on human health or the environment and which, based on their properties, have a harmonized classification under the European CLP Regulation. Substances of very high concern (SVHC) are a specific category of substances that are characterized by their serious properties, such as carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic effects. These substances are identified, included on a candidate list and specially monitored under the EU chemicals regulation REACH. According to REACH, suppliers are obliged to indicate substances that have been included in the candidate list and are contained in products on the safety data sheet.
Value chain
A value chain describes the successive steps in a production process: from raw materials through various intermediate steps, such as transportation and production, to the finished product.

This content fulfills the Disclosure Requirements of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The  ESRS Index gives an overview of the references to the ESRSs in this report.

Please note

With the exception of the “Disclosures according to sections 289a and 315a of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and explanatory report of the Board of Executive Directors according to section 176(1) sentence 1 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG),” the content of this section is not part of the statutory audit but is part of a separate audit with limited assurance.

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