Climate Lobbying Overview: Bayer appears to be actively engaged on climate change with positive as well as negative positions. The company has communicated positive top-line positions on climate action but appears to have retained some negative positions on policy streams in Europe, emphasizing concerns around costs and appearing skeptical of unilateral action in Europe. The company appears to have become less outwardly oppositional in recent years, with public engagement on these policy streams broadly reduced.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Bayer seems to be broadly supportive of climate action in its top-line messaging on climate policy. In its Industry Association Climate Review Engagement Update 2022, the company supported limiting warming to 1.5°C in line with the IPCC, and in a corporate publication in December 2021, Bayer advocated for climate neutrality in Germany to become “the focus economic project of the coming legislative period.” On its corporate website, accessed in January 2022, the company supported climate policy in line with the UN Paris Agreement. However, in its review of industry association alignment in October 2021 Bayer seemed to suggest that regional carbon pricing legislation would be preferable to national mechanisms should a global scheme not exist. The CEO Werner Baumann advocated for climate policy that strengthens industrial competitiveness in the same October 2021 review.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Bayer appears to have limited interaction with specific policy streams in recent years. In its 2022 CDP Climate Change Disclosure, Bayer supported the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and stated that cap and trade is the “preferred instruments to combine climate protection with market instruments.” In its industry association alignment review in October 2021, Bayer supported renewable energy mandates and clean energy standards, and in an overview of its 2021 lobbying activities on climate policy, published in December 2021, the company stated it supported adopting the target of 50% GHG emissions reductions in the US. In an EU public consultation in April 2022, Bayer expressed broad support for the EU policy proposal to introduce a certification of carbon removals, however, seemingly advocating for a voluntary carbon market and non-mandatory instruments in the policy. Furthermore, a November 2022 open letter signed by Bayer’s CEO, broadly supported renewable energy legislation and energy efficiency incentives, without referencing specific policies, and in its 2022 CDP Climate Change Disclosure Bayer supported the amendments to the German renewable energy law.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Bayer appears to support the energy transition, but maintains that policies should maintain international competitiveness and minimize costs. In a review of its industry association alignment in October 2021, the company supported decarbonization policies in line with the UN Paris Agreement and the transition away from fossil fuels. In September 2021, Bayer signed a joint letter advocating for policymakers to commit to end new coal power development and financing at COP26, combined with phase out plans by 2030 in advanced economies and 2040 in other countries. In a November 2022 open letter, Bayer’s CEO additionally supported the removal of fossil fuel subsidies. Furthermore, Bayer supported diversifying the energy mix in Europe away from dependency on Russian fossil fuels, by advocating for a fast expansion of renewable energies in its Industry Association Climate Review Engagement Update 2022. However, in its 2021 CDP climate change disclosure, the company supported the energy transition but suggested that measures must preserve competitiveness and stressed the risks of rising energy prices and energy security. Bayer’s 2022 CDP climate change disclosure did not include the conditions above, and instead expressed support for the climate provisions in the US’ Inflation Reduction Act.

Industry Association Governance: Bayer has published a review of its alignment on climate policy with industry associations in 2021, and an engagement update in 2022. The review detailed their positions on climate policy and disclosed a clear framework for assessing alignment, yet did not describe positions held by company representatives nor the engagement activities of the associations. Bayer retains membership to several industry associations which are lobbying negatively on climate change such as the National Association of Manufacturers and BusinessEurope, and has influential positions on the board of associations such as the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) and the Federation of German Industry (BDI) which are negatively engaging on EU climate policy.

A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.

InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2023.