JOHANNESBURG--On
the occasion of the World Summit in
Johannesburg, South Africa, the Bayer
Group has reaffirmed its wide-reaching
goals for climate protection. By 2010
the company aims to reduce emissions
of greenhouse gases by more than 50
percent compared with 1990 values.
"Our
target lies well above the reductions set for
the European Union in Kyoto, and also far in
excess of the undertakings made by the German
government," said Bayer board member Dr.
Udo Oels. "With this special commitment
we want to contribute to the success of the
summit and to the attainment of the internationally
agreed sustainability targets."
The increasing occurrence of natural
catastrophes like the recent floods in
Germany and China show quite clearly
that climate protection is one of the
central issues of the present day, according
to Dr. Oels. He added that Bayer fully
supports international targets for environmental
improvement and it was for this reason
that the company set itself an ambitious
goal following the Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro in 1992: to halve emissions
of greenhouse gases in just 20 years.
In the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, the participating
nations agreed binding values for the
reduction of climate-relevant gases.
The reduction defined for the European
Union is eight percent by 2012. Germany
had already undertaken to reduce its
emissions of carbon dioxide and other
climate-relevant gases by 21 percent
over the same period.
Bayer
has achieved its ambitious goals at
its German sites long before expiry
of the compliance period. Since the early
1990s, emissions of greenhouse gases
have been cut by 53 percent ñ despite
a significant growth in production. For
the company's activities worldwide the
figure currently lies at around 35 percent.
Dr. Oels said: "We have achieved
this quantum leap by modifying processes,
utilizing state-of-the-art technologies,
shutting down old production units and
constructing new, environmentally friendly
power generation facilities. However,
the key to our success has been the freedom
to decide ourselves where in our production
chain the technical options for climate
protection can be implemented most effectively.
Success can only be achieved quickly
if industry is able to act on its own
responsibility and is free to utilize
its technical expertise as it thinks
best. Rigid legislation and unnecessary
bureaucracy will not serve the cause
of environmental protection."
In other areas too, the company has
greatly improved its environmental performance
over the last ten years. Emissions of
carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide have
been reduced by more than 70 percent
whilst nitrous oxide output has been
cut by 40 percent. Over the same period,
total waste volume has been trimmed by
25 percent and specific energy consumption
by almost 30 percent--even though production
has expanded by more than one third.
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