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Ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Board of Management, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all at our Press Conference here in Leverkusen. Alongside our German guests, may I also welcome our international visitors who have come here today to learn more about our company's commitment to climate protection.

In our midst we also have some 50 Young Environmental Envoys from 17 countries and four continents, to whom I would like to extend a special welcome. With your environmental projects, you have beaten about a thousand other contestants in competitions jointly organized by Bayer and UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme.

We are delighted that you will now spend a week with us in Germany as our guests, and hope that you will gather plenty of information on the latest developments and opportunities for environmental protection and sustainability, so that you can take many interesting ideas back home with you. Today's program should certainly help you with this.

Ladies and gentlemen, climate change and the need for global climate protection are key aspects of environmental protection, and have been at the very top of the international agenda for some months now. The award of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the so-called World Climate Council - and to Al Gore also underlines the major political dimension of this subject.

We at Bayer welcome the intensive debate on the subject of climate protection as it helps to fix this important topic in the minds of politicians, commercial enterprises and society on a long-term basis. And that is also essential if people are not only going to talk about climate change but also resolve and implement concrete measures to do something about it.

There is no longer any doubt that climate change is with us, and that it is caused to a very large extent by greenhouse gases produced by humankind. The fourth part of the report from the World Climate Council, which has been discussed in the last few days in Valencia, has underlined this very convincingly.

Now, more than ever, it is essential to step up climate protection. We need a turnaround with CO₂ emissions. And we also need innovative solutions to master the consequences of climate change. Bayer intends to make a specific contribution to this.

We must, however, also bear in mind that the underlying political conditions are of central importance for the success of all these efforts. Not least for that reason, we endorse an effective climate regime at global level. We want constructive dialogue with politicians, non-governmental organizations and other companies.

We were, for instance, one of the first signatories to the global climate protection initiative, ”3C: Combat Climate Change”. Its aim is to support politicians in providing an efficient global framework for reducing emissions. After all, the global problem can only be met through joint action worldwide, at least by all the major parties responsible for emissions.

This can be seen by the following figures: Global carbon dioxide emissions rose from 1990 to 2005 by 6 billion metric tons to 27 billion metric tons. This increase of 6 billion metric tons is equivalent to approximately six times the total German CO₂ emissions in 2005. It means that Germany's share of global emissions is three percent, and the figure is falling.

But that naturally does not release Germany from its responsibility to make a contribution. Only through further efforts by the industrialized countries will it be possible to also induce the threshold countries to initiate the necessary measures.

Starting with the UN Climate Conference at the beginning of December in Bali, we all have the chance to reach a new international climate agreement that includes the United States and the major emerging countries, not least China and India.

It is important to remember that an isolated pioneering role by Europe, and particularly by Germany, cannot stop climate change and would also seriously endanger industry's competitiveness in those countries. After all, a competitive industry is a key requisite for achieving progress - also in the field of climate protection.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We at Bayer take climate change very seriously and regard it as an ecological and economic challenge. In our mission statement, ”Bayer: Science For A Better Life”, we acknowledge and accept our role as a socially and ethically responsible corporate citizen. In line with the concept of sustainable development, we want, through our actions, to bring economic, ecological and social benefit into harmony with each other - and that naturally also applies to the issue of climate change.


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Our integrated, Group-wide Bayer Climate Program sets clear targets for this. It is based on our newly formulated Bayer Climate Policy. This is led by the guiding principle of ”We help with solutions”, and describes our dual target:

Firstly, we want to conserve natural resources and further lower CO₂ emissions in our own production plants. Secondly, we want to develop new solutions for climate protection and for dealing with climate change.

The Bayer Climate Program

- comprises a package of measures spread over several years,
- contains concrete targets for reducing greenhouse gases,
- earmarks pioneering projects - which we call ”lighthouse projects”,
- bundles the specific fields of expertise of our company, and
- inspires scientists and young people to address the subject of climate change.

Last but not least, it aims to make our employees more aware of the problem and induce them to adopt a ”climate-friendlier” approach.

Ladies and gentlemen,


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With this new project, we are essentially following on from the successful efforts we have made in the last few years. In the past, our company has already received many awards from independent institutions.

Recently, we became the only European company in the chemical industry to be included for the third time in succession in the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index, the world's first climate index, with the distinction ”best in class”. Furthermore, we are again this year listed in the European and worldwide Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

These awards are for us an acknowledgement that our chosen path is the right one, and a motivation for us to continue along that path. We want to intensify our efforts in environmental and climate protection, and we will do so.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let us now take a look at the main points of our Bayer Climate Program. We will begin with the reduction of our CO₂ emissions. We are well aware that we ourselves are an emitter of greenhouse gases. That was why already in the past we focused our attention on lowering CO₂ emissions.

Between 1990 and 2006, we significantly reduced the absolute global greenhouse gas emissions of the Bayer Group in its present portfolio structure - by a total of 36 percent. This includes direct emissions from our own power plants and incinerators and indirect emissions through the purchase of utilities. And, through technological innovations in production, we have also been able to consistently enhance energy efficiency and thus lower the specific emissions - in other words, the emissions per product unit.

Let us first take a look at Bayer MaterialScience, which is by far our most energy-intensive subgroup. It manufactures over four million tons of high-quality materials, not least polycarbonate and polyurethanes.


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Electrical energy is an important and cost-intensive raw material for us. It is used, for example, in the production of chlorine, which is an indispensable raw material for many of our chemical processes. We use around 40 percent of our electricity consumption for chlorine production alone.

Simply for economic reasons, we have tapped numerous possibilities for achieving greater energy efficiency, and we have already attained a very high level. Thanks to the use of the innovative oxygen depolarized cathode technology, we now save around 30 percent energy in chlorine production from hydrochloric acid.

And we are not standing still. We want to deploy our innovative strength and our know-how to make further progress - also in the interests of climate protection. There is no doubt that our researchers, developers and engineers have already achieved pioneering successes in this respect.

With gas phase phosgenation, for example, we have developed an innovative process for manufacturing our TDI isocyanate, an important raw material for our polyurethanes. This has enabled us to save 40 to 60 percent of the energy previously needed. The process will also be used in our world-scale plant in Shanghai. The plant is due to go on stream in 2011 with a capacity of 300,000 tons a year.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let us now move on to our reduction targets for the period up to 2020.


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At Bayer MaterialScience, we naturally want to continue to grow our sales, both by value and by volume. And that, of course, is not possible without simultaneously increasing our absolute energy consumption. However, our aim is to reduce specific CO₂ emissions per ton of sales product worldwide by 25 percent. The reduction of specific emissions is acknowledged in this energy-intensive segment as the right unit of measurement, because it allows demanding energy efficiency targets to be met, while simultaneously growing sales.

Our other two subgroups, Bayer HealthCare and Bayer CropScience, are less energy-intensive. And the volumes produced are nowhere near comparable with those produced by Bayer MaterialScience. For this reason, absolute CO₂ reductions can be achieved here, despite further growth. That is precisely what we will strive for: For the period up to 2020, we want to lower absolute CO₂ emissions at Bayer CropScience worldwide by 15 percent and at Bayer HealthCare by 5 percent.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We have thus set ourselves ambitious targets for all our subgroups.


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One important tool for helping us achieve these targets is the new ”Bayer Climate Check” from Bayer Technology Services. We have developed it ”in-house” and will introduce it throughout the world. It is one of our lighthouse projects.

Using a new method, we will analyze in detail the energy efficiency of our own plants, with the aim of further optimizing our production processes, even though they already meet a high technical standard. For the first time production processes will be detailed and analyzed in full, including all precursors and energies. We will begin immediately with the examination, using the Climate Check, of 100 production plants from all the subgroups.

We are hoping to be able to reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in the Group by 5 to 10 percent as a result. Furthermore, with this new tool, we want to specifically extend the assessment of major new capital expenditure projects to include a further ecological decision-making factor, namely the ”Climate Footprint”. And so that other companies can also benefit from the Bayer Climate Check as an innovative tool for reducing CO₂ emissions, we will also offer it on the open market.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our commitment to climate protection is naturally also connected with appreciable capital expenditures. EUR 1 billion have already been earmarked in our budgets for investment in climate-related research and development and in other projects for the period from 2008 to 2010. Some of this money will be used to back our efforts to improve our energy efficiency. We will also invest in climate-friendly, future-oriented products for many areas of our everyday life.

After all, our products already contribute directly in many ways to saving energy and conserving resources. I am thinking here first and foremost of our polyurethane insulating materials. For the insulation of buildings or refrigerators, the use of our materials can have enormous energy-saving potential.

Merely by using these Bayer MaterialScience products in building insulation, more than 70 times the amount of energy can be saved as is needed to manufacture them. I would say that, in terms of climate protection, this is an excellent energy balance. It shows - and this is also confirmed by numerous studies - that the appropriate application of insulating materials can make an effective contribution to conserving our resources.

Let me move on to another lighthouse project.


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Around 20 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions caused by humankind around the world is attributable to energy consumption in buildings. Commercial and industrial buildings account for about one third of this. We have decided to take up this issue and have developed an innovative concept that will set new standards.

Our Bayer ”EcoCommercial Building” is an industrial and office building with zero emissions. It is suitable for all climate zones. It is based on integrated concepts, which, among other things, provide for the use of our products, not least our insulating materials.
We are not developing this concept on our own, we are also bringing in expertise from other disciplines to work as a team. And we will call on the know-how of various players in the construction industry to help us refine, implement and further develop the project. Dr. Plischke will explain to you in more detail this groundbreaking example of a solution for climate protection.

Another subject that has always been assuming high priority in the recent debate is that of renewable raw materials. An important component of our Climate Program in this connection is the contribution we are making to the issue of biofuels. Dr. Plischke will also tell you more about that later.

I would simply like to mention one example, namely that of canola, which is a particularly suitable crop for the production of biofuels. Bayer CropScience is the world market leader in the field of hybrid canola, which is essentially canola seed produced from crossing different plants. Our high-yield canola can produce 20 percent higher yields than other hybrid types.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Increasing the yield is very important not only for the production of biofuels. We see many cases today where energy production is competing with food production for the available crop-growing area.


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The world population continues to increase - currently at a rate of around 78 million people a year - and, accordingly, more and more people and animals have to be fed. The area under cultivation is currently in the order of 1.5 billion hectares, and there is no way of increasing this. In fact, the figure is declining as a result of erosion and desertification. The consequences of climate change such as heat waves and drought threaten to make crop-growing conditions even worse.

For this reason, we are also focusing our innovative strength on making crops more resistant to unfavorable conditions. For example, we are working on developing stress-tolerant crops that supply good yields even in extreme conditions such as heat, drought and salty soil. In this way we want to help lessen the consequences of the increasingly difficult crop-growing conditions in many regions of the world.

As you can see, Bayer is a competent partner for developing innovative solutions that help us adapt to the consequences of climate change.

In our search for these solutions, we also rely on contributions made in the academic world. For this reason, we have decided to accompany our own efforts with incentives to promote outstanding research performances in the field of climate protection.


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The programs we have embraced in our newly established ”Bayer Science and Education Foundation” offer an excellent framework for this. The ”Bayer Climate Award” worth 50,000 euros aims to reward excellence in climate research. It will be presented for the first time in 2008 and then every two years.

We also want to offer an incentive to school and university students who dedicate themselves to the cause of climate protection:

Under the title ”Bayer Climate Fellows”, the foundation will facilitate participation in seminars and courses on the subject of climate protection. Perhaps, in a few years, we will see one or other of the Bayer Environment Envoys who are here today as a scholarship holder of the Climate Fellows or even as a winner of the Bayer Climate Award. I can only encourage you to work towards this goal.


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Ladies and gentlemen,

I told you earlier that our climate program is an integrated one. And I consider it very important that we also involve our over 100,000 employees around the world in the measures we are taking. After all, every one of them can make a contribution to climate protection: at the workplace, when they travel, in their daily communications, and when they drive their cars.

Even if these contributions may seem to be small, they can help to sharpen awareness for climate protection. For our part, for example, we want to reduce business air travel and make greater use of modern conference techniques.

We also want to reduce the emissions caused by our company vehicles by 20 percent from 2007 to 2012. And that also includes the company vehicles used by our Board of Management. We will create incentives for using company cars with low CO₂ emissions, initially in Germany and then internationally. Furthermore, we will convert our site-bound company vehicles over to operation by natural gas. We are currently working with several vehicle manufacturers on other innovative solutions for our car fleet.


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As you can see, we are not resting on our laurels with the successes we have achieved so far. We want to drive further forward and set new standards. We have three specific goals:

Firstly, we want to further reduce our CO₂ emissions, and I have already told you of our ambitious targets.

Secondly, we want to continue growing, not least, and that is a particularly important point for me, because we manufacture innovative products for efficient climate protection and for dealing with climate change.

Thirdly, we want to invest 1 billion euros worldwide in climate-related R&D and other projects in the next three years.

In all this, we are guided by our key principle: To bring commercial success into harmony with the protection of the environment and the needs of society.
Many thanks.



Forward-looking statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in our annual and interim reports to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 20-F). The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.