Water Security strengthens Climate Resilience
The world’s ecological boundaries are currently being pushed past their limits. Water is not only essential for life on earth, but also for many industry sectors of the global economy and especially for us as a Life Science company. As the global population grows, we need to find sustainable, water-resilient solutions while facing additional pressure from climate-driven water challenges like increasing floods and droughts.
Our Water Strategy
Bayer’s mission of 'Health for all, Hunger for none' is closely connected to the vital importance of water. As a leader in health and agriculture, we are dedicated to addressing the water crisis through a holistic approach that recognizes water as a fundamental pillar of a sustainable economy and global wellbeing.
Our water strategy addresses potential water-related risks and leverages Bayer’s innovation skills to build business opportunities while adding value to communities. With 70% of global freshwater consumed by agriculture, Bayer is uniquely positioned to enhance water resilience through innovative scientific solutions that create a significant impact at scale.
Our Mid-Term Water Targets
Bayer’s engagement goes beyond our own operations and reflects our ambition to generate impact. These activities encompass the entire value chain, from our suppliers and own operations to the farmers, patients and consumers we serve. Key elements of our water strategy are:
Bayer commits to drive positive change in water productivity in water scarce regional cropping systems, starting with rice, which is responsible for up to 43% of the world’s irrigation water withdrawals. The company is committed to support our smallholder customers and has set a target to increase water productivity1 by 25% by 2030 against a 2019-2021 average baseline2 by transforming rice cropping in the relevant geographies where Bayer operates, starting in India3.
1 Water productivity is defined as kg of crop yield per volume of water used (kg/m3).
2 Baseline validation is still ongoing.
3 Our water target is currently focusing on the “DirectAcres Initiative” which aims at supporting farmers shift successfully from transplanted puddled rice to mechanized direct seeded Rice.
By 2030, our Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health Divisions aim to reduce their water withdrawals1 by 20% compared to the 2024 baseline. This will be achieved e.g. by installing closed-loop cooling circuits and water-saving process technologies like continuous filters.
Bayer will build upon the already existing mitigation activities and water management systems to further assess water-related risks at relevant sites in water-scarce areas. We will also extend them to sites that are forecasted to be in water-scarce regions by 20302.
Bayer continues to reduce emissions at its sites worldwide, including emissions into wastewater. Beyond that, we have established very strict voluntary discharge limits for active ingredients into wastewater at all sites where they are produced.
1 Including purchased water and weighted by local water stress & our share of the region's total withdrawal
2 Evaluation based on data from Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas
Bayer evaluates the sustainability performance of all key suppliers and of selected high-sustainability-risk suppliers and includes water as an evaluation criterion. As an important step forward, we have launched our new Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC), with dedicated items to address water and wastewater.
At the same time, we continue to drive improvements in water-use efficiency with growers across seed production.
Addressing the water crisis requires joint action from a myriad of stakeholders. Bayer is well connected in the water space via its involvement in the World Meteorological Organization for Water and Climate Leaders, its active participation in the Water Resilience Coalition as well as with the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA). We will make use of these strong partnerships to connect the right leaders and ensure appropriate private sector engagement.
Bayer is committed to providing safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to all employees at its sites.
Furthermore, in cooperation with local NGOs, we engage in several community projects in water-scarce regions and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). For example, we cooperate with the Safe Water Network to improve the health of more than 270,000 people in rural/peri-urban communities in India by providing reliable water access through 90 iJal Safe Water Stations.
Further information regarding our Water Strategy, Water Use and Wastewater Management is available in our Impact Report.