24 June 2010 | Andy Allen
Pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer has reported a 6.5 per cent drop in its CO2 emissions.
The figures were revealed in the company’s sustainability report for 2009.
Bayer said in the report: “The drop in direct emissions was primarily due to cuts in production owing to economic factors and process engineering measures.”
In 2009 Bayer, which sources goods and services worth €13.7 billion (£11.2 billion) from about 87,000 suppliers in around 100 countries, set up a supplier code of conduct covering areas such as human rights and treatment of employees.
The programme also offers special education and training opportunities to children and young people, such as vocational qualifications to become farm assistants. According to the report, more than 2,400 children and young people have so far benefited from these programmes.
The report added that Bayer CropScience conducted repeated inspections with seed suppliers to ensure that no child labour is being used in supplier farms.
Monitoring teams make unannounced visits to the fields several times a year to check the ages of the workers. The producers receive a bonus at the end of the planting season if no child labour is used and sanctions or cancellations of contracts if child labour is discovered.
