Sustainability Strategy*

Implementing our strategy globally

Our ambition is to leverage science and technology to achieve progress for mankind. For us, sustainable entrepreneurship and profitable growth go hand in hand; we can remain competitive only by creating added value for society. Through our innovative and high-quality products, we want to help meet global challenges. At the same time, our products secure our financial performance capability.

Responsible action is an integral part of our company culture. This also includes respecting the interests of our employees, customers and investors, as well as society. For more than 350 years, our company has been shaped and guided by strong values. Our success is built on values that underpin our understanding of sustainable entrepreneurship.

The rapidly growing challenges facing society and the environment require a clear objective for the coming years. That is why we have integrated sustainability into our enterprise strategy as an essential component and have set ourselves three strategic sustainability goals: In 2030, we will achieve progress for more than one billion people through sustainable science and technology. By 2030, we will integrate sustainability into all our value chains. By 2040, we will be climate neutral and reduce our resource consumption.

In order to firmly achieve our sustainability goals, we have defined seven focus areas: sustainable innovations and technologies for our customers, impact of our technologies and products on health and well-being, sustainability culture and values, sustainability and transparency in the supply chain, securing our social license to operate in all regions, climate change and emissions, and water and resource intensity. Within these focus areas we are currently implementing numerous initiatives and projects and are measuring our progress. These efforts ensure that sustainability will become a key indicator of our success across all our business sectors. The goals we have set ourselves to 2030 and beyond will contribute to the attainment of the United Nations SDGs.

Our business activities contribute to the following five SDGs in particular: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

More information on sustainability topics can be found in the non-financial statement, which for fiscal 2021 has been published in the management report for the first time.

Measuring progress made with the sustainability strategy

In 2021, we defined various key indicators in order to record and measure progress made through our three sustainability goals.

As of fiscal year 2022, we will be adding a sustainability factor to our Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP). The 2021 Annual General Meeting approved a revised compensation system for the members of the Executive Board. For the sustainability factor, the company uses the three key indicators marked in the table. Details on how this sustainability factor is calculated can be found in the Compensation Report.

* The contents of this chapter or section are voluntary and therefore not audited. However, our auditor has read the text critically.