BASF
CEF Lead Executives
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LUIZIANA "LUI" RIBEIRO
Director of Sustainability, North America
Before her current role, Luiziana was BASF’s Head of Global Pharma Marketing Communications. She has also served at BASF in the roles of Manager South America Business Communications and Senior Manager Strategy Project Communication, Sustainability and Government Affairs. Luiziana received a bachelor's degree from Universidade Católica de Pernambuco and a Master's degree in public relations and corporate communication from Universidade de São Paulo.
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CARRIE BALES
Manager Corporate Sustainability, North America
Caroline "Carrie" Bales received her dual degrees from MBA at UNC Kenan- Flagler and Master of Environmental Management (MEM) at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment degree graduate, with a focus on Sustainable Enterprise and Business and Environment. She received her B.S. in Agricultural Sciences from Virginia Tech in 2014. She then went on to work in transportation engineering at Norfolk Southern Railroad as a supervisor in the construction and maintenance of railroad infrastructure. Carrie now works for BASF as a manager of Corporate Sustainability for North America focusing on internal and external engagement sustainability strategy. Carrie aspires to have an impact in corporate sustainability strategic planning to help reduce risks and harness opportunities that are beneficial for both business and the environment.
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JESSICA SRUN
Senior Specialist - Sustainability Education & Engagement
Experienced sustainability professional with 7+ years of expertise in the strategic implementation of sustainability initiatives, effective marketing and communications and sustainability consulting. Diverse knowledge on sustainability topics including climate change, water conservation, sustainable agriculture, sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. Exemplifies a comprehensive understanding of sustainability, working in private and nonprofit sectors including Fortune 500 companies and the United Nations. Skilled in interpersonal communications, stakeholder engagement, qualitative and quantitative analysis, cross-functional initiatives and project management. Possesses an entrepreneurial spirit, motivated to cultivate solutions and passionate about driving change for a sustainable future.
Sustainability Goals
Sustainability Goals
Outstanding Goals
- Cover 90% of relevant spend with sustainability evaluations
- Have 80% of suppliers improve their sustainability performance upon re-evaluation
2025 Sustainability Goals
- Increase the proportion of sales generated by products that make a particular contribution to sustainable development (accelerators)
- Certify sourcing of significant intermediates which are based on palm oil and palm kernel oil.e.g. fatty alcohols and fatty acids
2030 Sustainability Goals
- Grow CO2-neutrally until 2030
- Introduce sustainable water management at all production sites in water stress areas and at all Verbund sites
- Reduce its global GHG emissions by 25%
- Achieve net-zero CO2 emissions globally by 2050
Latest Sustainability Report
(March 2024)
Highlights
- Reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions 23% between 2018 and 2023, from 21.9 to 16.9 million metric tons, and inaugurated a joint 1.5GW offshore windfarm project that should be operational in 2024.
- Sourced 20% of its electricity supply from renewables, up from 17% in 2022.
- Implemented over 500 measures to reduce energy and resource consumption in 2023.
- Reduced air pollutants from BASF operations 7.5% from 2022 to 2023.
- Founded a new Nature Advisory Council for topics related to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems to shape company’s strategic approach.
- Covered 89% of relevant procurement spend with sustainability evaluations in 2023 (90% target by 2025).
- Achieved 2025 target of having 80% of suppliers improve their sustainability performance upon reevaluation (having reached 82% in 2023).
- Increased the percentage of female leaders with disciplinary responsibility to 28.4% at the end of 2023 (2022: 27.2%).
Recent News
2023
More than 50 companies, unions, and organizations sent an open letter to Congressional leadership advocating for adjustments to the 45Q tax credit for carbon sequestration to strengthen its emission reduction and job creation potential. Specifically, the letter calls for indexing 45Q for inflation beginning immediately; and creating parity between carbon utilization credit levels and those associated with geologic storage. Signatories include CEF members ADM and BASF. (Dec 2023)
Global Impact Coalition — This CEO-led initiative, founded by seven chemical companies, including CEF member BASF, will focus on accelerating the development and upscaling of low-carbon emitting technologies for chemicals production and related value chains. It will incubate projects such as those pioneered when the Coalition was under the World Economic Forum (over the past three years as the Low-Carbon Emitting Technologies Initiative), including an R&D Hub for Plastic Waste Processing and an Electrically Heated Steam Cracker Furnace. (Dec 2023)
Low-Carbon Emitting Technologies (LCET) R&D Hub — Seven members of the LCET initiative (including CEF members BASF and Dow) signed a collaboration agreement to establish a new R&D Hub to develop new technologies for waste processing with a lower CO2 footprint and greater levels of plastic waste recycling. This is the first project launched by the Initiative, with research projects expected to launch in the second half of 2023. (May 2023)
The Corporate Role in Inclusive STEM Education Opportunities (Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC)) — This white paper, sponsored by CEF member BASF, explores how companies can prepare the next generation of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professionals by developing inclusive learning opportunities based around conservation concepts and utilizing corporate conservation projects as sites of learning (such as forest and prairie habitats and pollinator gardens). The paper explores several case studies of initiatives led by ten companies, including CEF members General Motors and WM. (Feb 2023)
International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety (ICCS) — Launched by more than 35 cosmetics manufacturers and suppliers, industry associations and animal protection organizations, ICCS will support animal-free cosmetics and personal care product and ingredient innovation by funding rigorous, scientific evaluation of new animal-free safety assessment approaches. It will share the results of these evaluation activities with cosmetic and chemical regulators and fund education and training activities to help build confidence in animal-free safety assessment approaches. CEF members include BASF, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever. (Feb 2023)
Flue2Chem Project (Unilever, Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), and others) — Fifteen businesses, universities, and NGOs, spearheaded by Unilever and SCI, have started a two year, £5.4 million ($6.5 million) project in the UK aimed at converting industrial CO2 emissions into sustainable materials for use in consumer products. Along with producing a more sustainable feedstock for products, such as household cleaning materials, the project aims to demonstrate how the UK could reduce 15-20 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, through the reduction of imports of carbon containing feedstocks. The partners include businesses across the supply chain, and include CEF members Unilever, BASF, and Procter & Gamble. (Feb 2023)
2022
BASF / STEPAC — BASF and packaging company, StePac, announced an agreement in which BASF will provid StePac with a chemically recycled plastic (polyamide 6) for use in StePac’s packaging that helps keep produce fresh. This packaging will initially contain 30% recycled plastic, with options to increase the percentage. (Dec 2022)
More than 330 businesses and financial institutions from 52 countries, with combined revenues of over $1.5 trillion, urged world leaders to move beyond voluntary actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss in a new statement. The statement advocates for the leaders to adopt “mandatory requirements for all large businesses and financial institutions to assess and disclose their impacts and dependencies on nature by 2030.” CEF Members involved include BASF, Google, International Paper, McKinsey & Co., Microsoft, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Schneider Electric, Tiffany & Co., Unilever, and WM. Businesses can sign the statement here. (Oct 2022)
MAERSK — Announced an order for six large ocean-going container vessels capable of being operated on carbon-neutral methanol, to be built by shipbuilding company Hyundai Heavy Industries. Each ship has a capacity of 17,000 containers and are to be delivered in 2025. Expected annual CO2 emissions reductions total 800,000 metric tons. This brings Maersk’s total order of vessels capable of running on methanol to 19. (Oct 2022)
Mobility, Fleet & Fuels/Business Targets & Action: Shipping
The Global Battery Alliance (GBA), a multi-stakeholder organization to establish a sustainable battery value chain by 2030, launched its
Greenhouse Gas Rulebook for calculating and tracking the greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles.
The Rulebook is the first framework of its kind to facilitate the collection of standardized, auditable, and comparable GHG data for batteries, setting out 80 globally harmonized rules in easy-to-use format. It was developed with input from 41 GBA members, including CEF member BASF. (Oct 2022)
CFO Coalition for the SDGs — 70 Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), including those of CEF member companies BASF, Schlumberger, Schneider Electric, & Unilever, have joined the Leadership Group for a new coalition launched by the UN Global Compact to help integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in corporate finance and create a market for mainstream SDG investments. CFOs in the group will help develop recommendations, frameworks, and best practices to guide corporate investments towards the SDGs. The Coalition aims to (April 2022):
- Leverage commitments from CFOs in the Coalition ($500 billion already committed) to direct trillions of corporate investments towards the SDGs and create a $10 trillion market for SDG-directed finance by 2030.
- Expand the CFO Leadership Group from 70 to 100 CFOs by 2022.
- Encourage 1,000 CFO Signatories to the CFO Principles on Integrated SDG Investments and Finance by 2024.
BASF / STITCHCREW — BASF and StitchCrew are collaborating to launch a new Inclusive Beauty Accelerator program to help early stage beauty and personal care companies bring inclusive beauty products to market with the support of grants, coaching, and showcasing opportunities. Applicants must “come from an underrepresented background and/or be at least 50% minority owned.” (March 2022)
Corporations bought a record 31.1 gigawatts of clean energy through PPAs in 2021, up nearly 24% since 2020 and equivalent to over 10% of renewable energy capacity added globally, according to BloombergNEF. Technology companies bought the most clean energy, and the top 10 corporate buyers overall include CEF members Amazon (#1), Microsoft (#2), Meta (#3), BASF (#4), and Google (#6). (Feb 2022)
2021
WBCSD, RMI,
and the
Catena-X Automotive Network will jointly develop in 2022 a consistent method for the auto industry to measure product-level Scope 3 carbon emissions and exchange verified, primary data across supply chains.
CEF members
BASF, Microsoft,
and Siemens
belong to the Catena-X Automotive Network.
(Nov 2021)
MORE »
The U.S. and the UAE launched the
Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate),
a joint initiative to mobilize public-private investment and other support for “climate-smart” agriculture and food-systems innovation through 2025. The U.S. plans to mobilize $1 billion of investment by 2025. 31 countries including Brazil and 48 NGO and corporate partners have joined the initiative, including CEF members
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, BASF, and
PepsiCo. (Nov 2021)
MORE »
The World Economic Forum and the
Low-Carbon Emitting Technologies initiative (LCET),
a group of chemical-sector companies (started in 2019), have agreed to formalize the LCET
as a first-of-its-kind platform to develop and upscale low-carbon climate technologies that decarbonize the chemical-production value chain. LCET corporate partners include CEF members
BASF and Dow,
with additional support from the
Mission Possible Partnership.
(Oct 2021)
MORE »
The CEOs of over 1,000 companies
with a combined $4.7 trillion in annual revenue
sent an
open letter to all heads of state
ahead of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity
(COP15), urging them to adopt a concrete commitment to reverse nature loss by 2030.
They said the July 2021
draft plan for a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
“lacks the ambition and specificity required to drive the urgent action needed.” Signatories include the CEOs of CEF members
BASF, Google, International Paper, McKinsey & Co., Microsoft, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Schneider Electric, Tiffany & Co., Unilever,
and Waste Management. (Oct 2021)
MORE »
BASF / CATL —
The Chinese battery company and BASF are forming a
strategic partnership around battery materials solutions to create a sustainable battery value chain in Europe. BASF will supply cathode active materials (CAM), providing CATL with a
“secure raw material supply chain” in the region, and the two companies will work toward
developing a battery recycling network.
(Sept 2021)
MORE »
Was
chosen by
Cellforce Group (CFG), a joint
Porsche and
Customcells venture, as the exclusive cell-development partner for a next-generation lithium-ion battery. To close the loop, BASF will recycle production waste from the future CFG battery plant. (Aug 2021)
MORE »
Announced it
sourced 100% of its palm oils from
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil-certified sustainable sources in 2020.
(July 2021)
MORE »
Responsible Lithium Partnership — Cross-industry companies Volkswagen Group, BASF, Daimler AG, and Fairphone united to holistically engage stakeholders and create a joint action plan for responsible management of natural resources in Chile’s Salar de Atacama, home to ¼ of the world’s lithium supply.
(June 2021)
MORE »
Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders — Formed in 2014 to catalyze bold corporate climate actions,
70 members of the alliance—including CEOs from BASF, HPE, PepsiCo, Siemens, and Unilever—published an open letter to all world leaders ahead of the G7 Summit demanding transformative policy change to enable a net-zero world. Signatories also
encouraged governments to work together with the private sector to deliver on shared ambitions “within a clearer and more ambitious policy framework.” (June 2021)
MORE »
Announced a 2 GW offshore wind farm project to enable CO2-free hydrogen production from 2030. BASF is partnering with utility company RWE on the project, which will supply its chemical facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany. (May 2021)
ACI’s 1.5°C Climate Challenge — The American Cleaning Institute (ACI), representing the $60 billion U.S. cleaning product supply chain, released an
industry roadmap for achieving net-zero emissions and challenged companies to align corporate strategies and targets to a 1.5 °C global warming scenario.
An initial 15 ACI members have committed to its 1.5°C Climate Challenge, including
BASF, Colgate-Palmolive,
Dow, Ecolab, and Shell.
(May 2021)
MORE »
BASF CANADA — Produced "The Afterlife of Waste," a circular economy documentary to educate Canadians on the benefits of circularity in capturing the value of plastic waste. (May 2021)
Secured $8.6 million in funding from the US Department of Energy to conduct 4 plastics-recycling research projects to accelerate plastic waste reduction in the environment. (April 2021)
Vision 2050: Time to Transform — WBCSD and over 40 of its members—including 3M, BASF, Microsoft, and Unilever—released an action agenda based on 9 “transformation pathways” essential to a sustainable and prosperous future. The pathways cover business areas essential to society: energy; transportation and mobility; living spaces; products and materials; financial products and services; connectivity; health and wellbeing; water and sanitation; and food. Each pathway includes 10 action areas for companies to take over the next decade. (March 2021)
Committed to reducing its global GHG emissions by 25% by 2030 (2018 baseline) and achieving net-zero CO2 emissions globally by 2050. It plans to invest up to $4.7 billion by 2030 to support its climate targets. (March 2021)
Value Chain Carbon Transparency Pathfinder — New WBCSD-led initiative to define and accelerate the wide-scale exchange of verified primary carbon emissions data between businesses to increase scope 3 emissions transparency. Over a dozen companies are involved, including BASF, Chevron, Dow, Microsoft, and Unilever. Additional partners welcome. (March 2021)
A major new coalition, “America is All In,” launched to mobilize bold climate ambitions nationally and uphold the federal government’s commitment to climate action—specifically to cut U.S. emissions in half or more by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050. Co-led by UN Special Climate Envoy Michael Bloomberg, the coalition effectively merges We Are Still In and America’s Pledge and is the most expansive effort ever assembled to support climate action in the U.S., involving U.S. businesses, cities, states, tribal nations, schools, and faith groups, health care organizations, and cultural institutions. Large companies involved include: 3M, Adobe, Amazon, Apple, ADM, Autodesk, BASF, Best Buy, Cargill, Carrier Corporation, The Clorox Company, Coca-Cola, Danone N.A., Dell Technologies, Dow Inc., DSM N.A., DuPont, eBay, Edison International, Facebook, Gap, General Mills, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP, Inc., IKEA U.S., Johnson & Johnson, Johnson Controls, Kellogg Company, LafargeHolcim, Levi Strauss & Co., L’Oréal, Mars Incorporated, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Mondelez International, National Grid, Nestle, NIKE, Novozymes, PG&E Corporation, PepsiCo, Salesforce, Siemens, Sony Corporation of America, Starbucks, Steelcase, Target, Tiffany & Co., Trane Technologies, Verizon, VF Corporation, Walmart, and Waste Management. (February 2021)
BASF signed a power purchase agreement with EDF Energy North America to source a combined 90 megawatts of solar and wind power for two Texas facilities starting as early as June 2021. (February 2021)
The Sustainability Consortium released a Resource Guide on Sustainable Animal Feed, a free digital resource that offers insight into the environmental impacts of animal protein products and feed. The resource guide was developed in partnership with over 20 organizations — including BASF, The Nature Conservancy, and the American Feed Industry Association. (January 2021)
BASF signed a power purchase agreement to source 55 MW of solar power from EDF Renewables’ Space City Solar Project in Texas. The project is expected to be online by Summer 2022. (Jan 2021)
2020
BASF will disclose the carbon footprint of its entire portfolio of approximately 45,000 products, becoming the first chemical company to do so. The company will start with specific product and customer segments in the coming months and plans to make this data available for the entire portfolio by the end of 2021. (August 2020)
BASF is providing academic research groups with free access to substances from its compound library to help identify a suitable active ingredient that can be used to treat COVID-19 patients. The company is also allowing the molecules to be used for research without making any patent claims.(June 2020)
BASF donated 100 million protective masks to the Federal Republic of Germany and 1 million protective masks to the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. BASF has committed a total of €100 million to fight the pandemic worldwide. (May 2020)
BASF launched “reciChain,” a blockchain technology pilot program designed to help tackle plastic waste in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The platform aims to enable secured data sharing among market participants and improve the sorting, tracing and monitoring of plastics throughout the value chain. (Feb 2020)
Included on the CDP “A List” recognizing companies for demonstrating leadership on water security in 2019. (Feb 2020)
2019
BASF and Greentown Labs have selected five startups to participate in their Circularity Challenge, a six-month accelerator program for startups that have a solution to disrupt the plastics, energy storage, and recycling value chains to enable a sustainable and circular economy. The five startups include: Corumat, Nexus Fuels, Circularise, Interface Polymers, and American Battery Metals Corporation. (November 2019)
BASF partnered with BMW Group, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electronics to launch “Cobalt for Development,” a cross-industrial pilot project aimed at improving working conditions at an artisanal cobalt mine site in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Sep 2019)
BASF has partnered with The Estée Lauder Companies and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil on a project to promote sustainable palm oil and palm derivatives production in the district of Waykanan, Lampung, Indonesia. The project is designed to improve the livelihoods of independent smallholder farmers and support their sustainable production of palm oil and palm kernel oil. (May 2019)
A group of 13 CEOs from U.S. and Global Fortune 500 companies — including BASF, Dow, Ford Motor Company, and Unilever — have launched the CEO Climate Dialogue, an initiative aimed at working collaboratively with lawmakers to implement long-term climate legislation at the federal-level. The goal of the initiative is to “build bipartisan support for climate policies that will increase regulatory and business certainty, reduce climate risk, and spur investment and innovation needed to meet science-based emissions reduction targets.” (May 2019)
Recognized as one of 120 companies — out of more than 5,500 companies analyzed — on CDP’s Supplier Engagement leaderboard (“Global Supply Chain Report 2019”) for their work with suppliers to reduce emissions and lower environmental risks in the supply chain. (Feb 2019)