Sustainability

The acceptance and support of our stakeholders is crucial for our business success. BASF is therefore engaged in continuous dialog with employees, shareholders, suppliers, customers, members of civil society, nongovernmental organizations and international organizations. We can be contacted directly through our grievance mechanism, are involved in networks and initiatives, receive critical feedback in our advisory councils and in the dialog with civil society, and contribute to the communities at our sites.

We have been a member of the U.N. Global Compact since its establishment in 2000. BASF consistently supports the Ten Principles of the U.N. Global Compact for responsible business conduct and the Sustainable Development Goals. We are active around the world in local Global Compact networks, in some cases in a leadership role. BASF is also a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the econsense Forum for Sustainable Development of German Business.

Representatives of BASF discuss key issues with independent, international experts in the confidential setting of our own advisory councils. The trustful exchange within the Human Rights Advisory Council helps us to appropriately fulfill our roles and responsibilities, particularly in challenging human rights situations. The Nature Advisory Council provides BASF with an independent perspective on our activities and dependencies in relation to nature and biodiversity topics and ecosystem services.

We bear a particular responsibility toward the neighbors of our sites. We promote continuous dialog between residents and our site management and strengthen trust in our activities with community advisory panels. Our globally valid guidelines for community advisory panels are based on the grievance mechanism standards in the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Our political advocacy is conducted in accordance with transparent guidelines and our publicly stated positions. The same applies to our activities in associations.

For more information on our stakeholder activities, see basf.com/stakeholder-engagement
For more information on our guidelines for responsible lobbying, see basf.com/responsible-lobbying
For more information on the Climate Advocacy Review, see basf.com/corporategovernance

We once again carried out a double materiality assessment in accordance with European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) requirements in 2025. This built on the double materiality assessment from 2024. The materiality assessment identifies the sustainability matters that are material for our company based on potential and actual material impacts, risks and opportunities. We plan to update this assessment on an annual basis.

For more information on our double materiality assessment, see BASF Report 2025

As an energy-intensive company, we take responsibility for the efficient use of energy, for global climate protection, and are committed to the Paris Agreement. We are determined to follow the path toward climate neutrality and to enable our customers’ green transformation by providing low-emission chemistry.

Climate change poses challenges for us but also offers opportunities for our business activities. For example, our products and solutions contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in many areas.

To achieve our climate protection targets, we have developed a transition plan that shows our emissions reduction path based on the most important levers. We are focusing on the following emission reduction levers to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from our own production and energy purchases (Scope 1 and 2):

• Renewable energy: We are increasingly meeting our electricity needs from renewable sources.
• Operational excellence: Our operational excellence activities are continually improving the energy and process efficiency of our plants.
• Low-emission steam generation: In the future, we will increasingly rely on electrification for steam generation and hence also tap previously unused waste heat potential.
• Climate-smart technologies: We are developing completely new emission-free and low-emission processes, and are assessing and piloting new technologies for a more sustainable chemistry.

Despite all our efforts, we expect there to be a residual share of emissions in 2050 that cannot be abated using technical or economic approaches. We are aiming to neutralize all remaining emissions through measures elsewhere that are characterized by high quality and credibility.

For more information on climate protection, see basf.com/climate_protection

Global targets

Based on the 2018 base year, we want to achieve a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from our production processes (Scope 1) and our energy purchases (Scope 2) by 2030¹ – despite our growth plans and the construction of a new Verbund site in southern China. This corresponds to a decrease of around 60% compared with 1990. Our long-term target is to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.¹

In 2025, the BASF Group’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions amounted to 16.1 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents (2024: 17.0 million metric tons). We further increased the share of electricity from renewable sources to 36% and, together with measures to increase energy and process efficiency, made a relevant contribution to reducing emissions. All in all, we have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions in BASF’s operations by 60% since 1990. In 2026, we expect significant additional emissions from our recently commissioned Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. These have already been taken into account when setting targets.

We set ourselves an ambitious Scope 3.1 target² for our specific raw materials-related emissions in 2023. This includes about 92% of our Scope 3.1 emissions based on the base year. By 2030, we want to reduce these in relation to the purchasing volume specifically by 15% from the 2022 base year. In 2025, specific Scope 3.1 emissions amounted to 1.62 kilograms of CO₂ per kilogram of raw material purchased (2024: 1.58).² The increase in specific emissions was mainly attributable to a change in the raw materials portfolio. This was countered by initial purchases from suppliers who offer raw materials with a lower PCF.

Greenhouse gas emissions of BASF Group (Scope 1 and 2)¹

Million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents

1 Scope 1 and Scope 2 (excluding the sale of energy to third parties). The target includes greenhouse gases according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which are converted into CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e).

2 Scope 3.1, raw materials excluding battery materials, excluding services, technical goods and greenhouse gas emissions from BASF trading businesses.

Renewable energy

Roughly half of our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are attributable to our plants’ energy demand. A core component is therefore converting our energy supply from fossil to renewable sources; this applies especially with regard to our electricity supply. In 2025, electricity from renewable sources as a share of total electricity consumption rose further compared with the previous year to 36% (2024: 26%). Our electricity consumption will increase significantly in future due to the planned gradual electrification of our steam generation and the switch from natural gas-based to electricity-based, low-emission production processes.

As regards the transformation of our power supply, we are pursuing a make-and-buy approach in the short, medium and long term. On the one hand, BASF is investing in its own renewable power assets. On the other hand, we are focusing on purchasing green power through long-term supply agreements with plant operators, green electricity purchase agreements or renewable energy certificates, depending on the region and market regulations.

In 2025, we further advanced the supply of electricity from renewable sources. Our new Verbund site in Zhanjiang in southern China, where we started manufacturing the first products from the Verbund in November 2025, is powered entirely with electricity from renewable sources. A joint venture was established for this purpose with the Mingyang Wind Power Group Limited, which includes the development, construction and operation of an offshore wind farm in Zhanjiang. The wind farm is under construction and has a planned capacity of 500 megawatts. The grid connection project has been successfully completed and the wind farm is scheduled to start operation in 2026.

The Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm, a joint project with Vattenfall and Allianz, has been operational since the summer of 2024. With 139 turbines and a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts, it is one of the largest subsidy-free offshore wind farms in the world. We use the electricity generated to supply our production sites in Europe, particularly Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.

Climate-smart technologies

To further abate CO₂ emissions, we are also developing completely new technologies for emission-free and low-emission production and are planning to scale them as far as possible from 2030 onward. The main focus here is on basic chemicals, which are often still emission-intensive to produce. This is the case with steam crackers, for example, which use high temperatures to break down naphtha into olefins and aromatics. The high temperatures have until now been achieved by burning natural gas. A heating concept using electricity from renewable sources could reduce process-related emissions by at least 90% in the future compared to today’s conventional technologies. Together with our partners SABIC and Linde, we are testing this new process on an industrial scale, as well as the associated direct and indirect heating concepts, in a demonstration plant for electrically heated steam cracker furnaces at our site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.¹

In March 2025, we started operation of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer² with a capacity of 54 megawatts at the Ludwigshafen site in Germany. Powered by electricity from renewable energy sources, the electrolyzer produces up to 8,000 metric tons of emission-free hydrogen and thus reduces greenhouse gas emissions at the site by up to 72,000 metric tons per year. BASF will primarily use the hydrogen produced as a raw material for the manufacture of products with a reduced PCF.

We are also testing an alternative production process for hydrogen – methane pyrolysis – in Ludwigshafen, Germany. This process is virtually emission-free if renewable energy is used and requires considerably less electricity than water electrolysis. In November 2025, we agreed on a collaboration with ExxonMobil to jointly advance methane pyrolysis technology to commercial readiness and are planning to construct and operate a joint demonstration plant in Baytown, Texas, to help validate the technology at scale.

Another focus area of our technological development is carbon capture and storage (CCS). This technology is expected to be one of the most economically attractive ways to reduce hard-toabate emissions in the medium and long term. For this reason, we are examining the implementation of CCS at various locations worldwide.

Corporate carbon footprint

BASF has published a comprehensive corporate carbon footprint every year since 2008. This reports on all emissions along the value chain – from raw materials to production and disposal (see graphic).

For more information on our emissions reporting, see basf.com/corporate_carbon_footprint

CO₂ emissions along the BASF value chain in 2025³

Million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents

Product carbon footprints

We use a digital solution that continuously determines the product carbon footprints (PCFs) of our products to increase transparency about our product-specific greenhouse gas emissions and focus CO₂ reduction measures on those areas where they bring the greatest added value. These PCFs include all greenhouse gas emissions – from raw materials extraction to the finished product leaving the factory gates (cradle-to-gate). In 2025, we further expanded our portfolio of products with a certified reduced carbon footprint.

We make our automated PCF calculation approach available to interested industry players through partnerships. We are involved in various initiatives to drive transparency, harmonization and standardization across the industry. This also takes place as part of Together for Sustainability (TfS), where we have been involved in the creation and revision of a uniform guideline for calculating the carbon footprint of products in the chemical industry. This enables the climate impacts of products to be directly compared and evaluated based on a standardized approach. A digital solution developed by TfS and Siemens for sharing PCF data between companies was launched in October 2024. We have fully migrated our queries to this solution since mid-2025.

For more information on product carbon footprints, see basf.com/en/pcf

We launched the Supplier CO₂ Management Program in 2021 to achieve transparency with respect to our raw materials-related emissions. The goal is to obtain a more accurate data base and to better manage and reduce emissions in the supply chain. In a first step, we have since requested the PCFs of our raw materials and support our suppliers in determining these, for example, by sharing our knowledge of valuation and calculation methods with them. After approximately four years, we have more than 2,200 validated PCFs. This corresponds to a coverage of 40% in relation to the greenhouse gas emissions of our raw materials. We are working to further enhance the transparency of the PCFs for our raw materials and thus the quality of the PCFs of our products.

For more information on the Supplier CO₂ Management Program, see basf.com/suppliers

1 The project has been granted €14.8 million from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) under the Decarbonization in Industry funding program. It is also being financed by the European Union via the NextGenerationEU fund.

2 The project is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate.

3 According to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Standard; Scope 1, 2 and 3; reported categories within Scope 3 are shown in parentheses. Scope 3 emissions in category 10 (Processing of sold products) are not reported according to the standard for the chemical sector. Only direct use phase emissions are reported in the customer category (Scope 3.11). Downstream leased assets category emissions (Scope 3.13) are already included in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. For this reason, in order to avoid double counting, no additional emissions are reported under this category. The Franchise category (Scope 3.14) is not relevant for BASF because the BASF Group does not operate as a franchisor. Excluding greenhouse gas emissions from BASF trading business.

We work continuously to reduce environmental impacts caused by our business activities. This includes reducing or preventing emissions to air and water, which we achieve first and foremost by operating our plants safely and efficiently. The health and safety of our employees and the protection of the environment are our highest priority.

We use the rate of High Severity Process Safety Incidents (hsPSI) per 200,000 working hours as a reporting indicator. We have set ourselves the target of no more than 0.10 hsPSI per 200,000 working hours by 20301 (status 2025: 0.04). For occupational safety, we have set ourselves the target of no more than 0.05 High Severity Work Process Related Injuries (HSI) per 200,000 working hours by 2030¹ (status 2025: 0.01).

For more information on process safety, see basf.com/process_safety
For more information on occupational safety, see basf.com/occupational_safety

1 Includes BASF employees, agency workers and contractors

Before our products are launched on the market, they undergo various tests and assessments – depending on their application profile and legal requirements. By conducting these tests, we aim to identify potential hazard indicators, as well as health and environmental risks, at an early stage. Based on these findings, we devise suitable preventive and protective measures and develop recommendations on secure handling – from production and application through to disposal.

To ensure product safety, we have established global management systems in our downstream value chains: For example, we set global guidelines on the safe transportation of hazardous goods for our logistics service providers and, where necessary, advise our customers on product safety to ensure that our products, when used responsibly and for their intended purpose, do not present any risk to either people or the environment.

For more information on product safety, see BASF Report 2025

Our aim is to introduce sustainable water management at our Verbund sites and at all production sites in water stress areas by 2030, covering around 90% of BASF’s total water withdrawal. In 2025, we achieved 73% of our target (2024: 65%).¹ Sustainable water management was introduced at 11 additional sites in 2025 (2024: eight sites). In the 2025 CDP “Water” assessment, BASF again achieved Leadership status with a rating of A- based on the company’s disclosures for the 2024 business year.

For more information on sustainable water management, see basf.com/water  

1 The number of sites relevant to the water target is reevaluated each year, so the current year corresponds to the reference year.

As a chemical company, we use valuable natural resources such as water, air and soil. At the same time, our business activities have an impact on these resources, for example through emissions to the environment or the sourcing of renewable raw materials.

Our business activities interface with nature, and therefore with biodiversity and ecosystems, in three key areas. These are the sourcing of raw materials, operation of production sites and the attributes of our products. In order to better categorize and understand the impact of BASF on nature at our production sites, in their immediate surroundings and along the value chain, we use the five drivers of biodiversity loss defined by the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES): land-use change, pollution, climate change, overexploitation and invasive species. We also followed this logic in our double materiality assessment.

We expect our suppliers to comply with internationally recognized environmental standards. Our expectations are laid down in our Supplier Code of Conduct, which is integrated into our purchasing conditions. The Code of Conduct covers among other topics our expectations with regard to environmental, labor and social standards as well as the protection of biodiversity. In 2024, we added principles for the responsible sourcing of renewable raw materials to our procurement requirement, with the aim of halting or reversing the loss of biodiversity.

In the area of crop protection, we are also committed to international standards including the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management and the Principles of Integrated Pest Management. We evaluate our products and solutions in crop protection and seeds throughout the entire research, development and registration process for potential risks and impacts to the ecosystems in which they are used. 

For more information on product stewardship for crop protection products and seeds, see BASF Report 2025

Since 2023, our Nature Advisory Council (NAC) has been a dedicated BASF advisory board for topics related to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. The NAC supports us in obtaining an independent societal perspective on our activities in relation to nature and biodiversity topics.

For more information on our Nature Advisory Council, see basf.com/en/nature-advisory-council
 

In the 2025 CDP “Forests” assessment, BASF again achieved Leadership status with a rating of A based on the company’s disclosures for the 2024 business year.

For more information on the CDP forests questionnaire, see basf.com/en/cdp

Overall, we purchased 30.1 million metric tons of raw materials in 2025. We purchase renewable raw materials in accordance with our principles for sustainable sourcing. Our expectations of our suppliers are laid down in our Supplier Code of Conduct.

For more information on supplier management, see basf.com/suppliers
 

Fossil and petrochemical resources

Petrochemical feedstocks derived from gas and crude oil such as naphtha and benzene are among BASF’s most important raw materials by volume. We continuously evaluate whether fossil and petrochemical raw materials can be replaced with renewable or recyclate-based alternatives.

Renewable resources

In 2025, we purchased 1.1 million metric tons of renewable raw materials, mainly based on vegetable oils, fats, grains and sugar. The mass balance approach allows us to allocate the amount of renewable raw materials used to a wide variety of end products.

Palm oil and palm kernel oil are among our most important renewable raw materials, which we use primarily for ingredients in cosmetics, detergents, cleaning products and food products. We have been a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for more than 20 years. The Care Chemicals division publishes a Responsible Sourcing Report every year. Among other things, the publication documents actions and progress to promote sustainability and transparency in the palm value chain. Since 2023, it has also covered additional renewable raw materials. In relation to our impact in connection with the sourcing of renewable raw materials, we set ourselves the target in 2015 of purchasing 100% certified palm oil and palm kernel oil from 2020 onward. We regard this target as a key indicator of whether our measures in the upstream value chain are successful. With 79.2% in 2025, we were unable to meet this target due to insufficient availability of RSPO-certified palm kernel oil (2024: 98.1%).

For more information on our voluntary commitment to palm oil products and the Responsible Sourcing Report, see basf.com/en/palm-dialog

Recycled feedstocks

One focal point of our activities in the area of circular raw materials is the chemical recycling of plastics. Chemical recycling breaks down plastics into their building blocks or converts them into basic chemicals. As part of ChemCycling^®, we feed pyrolysis oil into the BASF Verbund at our production sites in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America as a substitute for fossil feedstocks and manufacture Ccycled^® products by applying the mass balance approach.

The Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions (ECMS) division has many years of experience and a high degree of specialization in the recycling of precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium. Another focus is on the recycling of mineral raw materials. For example, our Battery Materials division is advancing innovative technologies and solutions for recovering metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries or production scrap. With the growing market for electric vehicles, the demand for recycling of lithium-ion batteries will increase. As a leading producer of battery materials with global production capacities, BASF has in-depth expertise in battery chemistry and process technology. We are utilizing these competencies to develop battery recycling as an additional growth market in cooperation with partners along the value chain. In June 2025, we started operation of a battery recycling plant for the production of black mass at the site in Schwarzheide, Germany.

For more information on circular economy, see BASF Report

Mineral raw materials

We have relationships with a large number of suppliers of mineral raw materials, which we use to manufacture products including automotive and process catalysts or battery materials for electromobility. We have implemented the EU’s Conflict Minerals Regulation, for example by carrying out a compliance check for the import of conflict minerals in our ordering system. Furthermore, BASF is committed to responsible and sustainable global supply chains for other mineral raw materials. These include cobalt, a key component in the production of battery materials.

We have embedded our responsibility for human rights and thus also for ensuring safe working standards and preventing potential child and forced labor in BASF’s Code of Conduct and Supplier Code of Conduct and have set it out in more detail in our Policy Statement on Human Rights. All employees and leaders bear responsibility for ensuring that we act in accordance with our Code of Conduct and Policy Statement on Human Rights. The head of our Legal and Compliance organization also acts as Chief Human Rights Officer and is responsible for monitoring overall risk management, including human rights risks under the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG).

The Human Rights Advisory Council (HRAC) provides a trust-based and constructive dialog to enable us to better meet our role and responsibility, particularly in situations that are challenging in terms of human rights. The HRAC helps us to better understand different perspectives on human rights (including the limits of corporate due diligence), address conflicting aims and take into account the rights of Indigenous peoples in our business activities.

For more information, see basf.com/humanrights
For more information on the Human Rights Advisory Council, see basf.com/human-rights-council