Sustainability

Our Human Rights Approach


Human Rights protect each and every person’s dignity. Respecting Human Rights in our own operations and business relationships is the foundation of our social responsibility. We value people and treat them with respect. 

Respecting Human Rights reaches far beyond compliance issues.
Vorsitzender des Vorstands: Legal, Taxes, Insurance & Intellectual Property; Corporate Development; Corporate Communications & Government Relations; Senior Executive Human Resources; Investor Relations; Compliance; BASF 4.0; Corporate Technology & Operational Excellence; Digitalization in Research & Development; Innovation Management

Dr. Martin Brudermüller

CEO of BASF SE

Wholeheartedly we embrace the task to respect Human Rights and the chance to promote them. As founding member of the United Nations Global Compact, BASF is inspired by and supports the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and respective national equivalents.

As an internationally operating company, we are integral part of many societies world-wide and engage with thousands of trusted business partners around the globe. The following overview provides transparency about our Human Rights approach. 

Please click on the categories below to learn more about how we take on our responsibility for Human Rights:

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We take advice from external experts, e.g. in our independent Human Rights Advisory Council, where international thought leaders from academia and civil society contribute their perspectives. The HRAC is led by our Chief Compliance Officer.  

Margaret Jungk who worked for the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and Business for Social Responsibility served as our external Human Rights expert.

In the Stakeholder Advisory Council, we intensively discussed BASF’s new Human Rights approach and salient Human Rights risks. Without any doubt, this is an ongoing process due to the complexity of the issue, especially with regard to long value chains and different cultural contexts and laws. However, we are happy to see the progress made so far, starting with BASF’s new Group Position on Human Rights.

Margaret Jungk

Human Rights expert

Download BASF Group’s Position on Human Rights as approved by the Board of Executive Directors here.