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Acting Responsibly – Creating Opportunities
Social responsibility has been an integral part of Bayer’s corporate policy for over 100 years. Today the group not only has business operations in some 150 countries, but is also working toward solving social problems and managing global challenges via a range of initiatives on the ground. The aim of these activities is to improve people’s future prospects.
Current projects include the “Global Exploration Fund” – a joint research fund between Bayer and National Geographic, the world’s largest charitable scientific organization. In 2005 the two partners challenged scientists to develop innovative ideas for protecting drinking water and announced €250,000 in funding to implement them. There are clear reasons for this initiative. More than a billion people have insufficient or no access to clean drinking water.
The number of regions on this planet that are suffering from severe water shortages is increasing. Their main problem is not the lack of water, but rather access to clean drinking water. Most severely affected by this scarcity are the poor and children. According to Unicef calculations, around 425 million children in developing countries are drinking unclean water. The precise numbers that fall ill as a result are not known. What is certain is that over 5,000 boys and girls under five die every day from a bacterial infection of the stomach and digestive system.
And this number is set to grow. UN experts estimate that by 2025 almost two billion people will live in areas with an extreme water shortage – if nothing is done. In their Millennium Objectives the UN member states therefore vowed to implement appropriate measures to halve the water and hygiene crisis by 2015.
The new research projects supported by the Global Exploration Fund, which Bayer and National Geographic selected from 94 proposals submitted in the summer of 2006, will play a part in this. Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG responsible for Innovation, Technology and Environment, says, “The projects funded by us process water using various methods – chemical, physical and biological. The aim is always to provide concrete help for people who don’t have direct access to clean drinking water.”
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