BASF

Background

BASF SE is one of the world’s largest chemical companies. BASF Agricultural Solutions is a division of BASF, representing around 13 percent of the Germany-based parent company’s $67 billion in overall sales in 2019.¹

BASF’s overall sales in 2021 were approximately $78.6 million.² BASF has seen rising profits in 2022, in part due to its majority ownership of fossil fuel company Wintershall.³ Wintershall is said to be “earning record sums from Russian gas,” as well as sales in other countries due to rising energy prices.⁴

During the COVID-19 pandemic, BASF was the largest beneficiary of the Bank of England’s emergency loan program, borrowing £1 billion.⁵

BASF AG is the third largest of the big five pesticide firms, the other four of which are Bayer, Syngenta, DowDuPont, and FMC Corporation. BASF AG’s sales are heavily concentrated in North America, followed by Europe, the combined South America-Africa-Middle East markets, and Asia Pacific.⁶

According to 2022 research by InfluenceMap, BASF is the third most “negative” and “influential” corporation globally when it comes to lobbying on climate policy. The findings reflect BASF’s “intense policy engagement, including widely supporting expanded oil and fossil gas production.”⁷

Stance on Climate Change

On its website, BASF claims that it works “continuously to further reduce emissions from our production.” The firm claims a goal of reducing emissions “25 percent by 2030 compared with 2018” while increasing production levels.⁸

The company also supports the Paris Agreement and, according to its web pages on sustainability, has been a member of the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, which “calls for more corporate engagement to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement.”⁹

BASF lists examples of its “climate protection” products. Under agriculture, the company says it uses a nitrification inhibitor which “ensures that the ammonium contained in fertilizers is metabolized more slowly by bacteria in the soil, thus resulting in a reduction in nitrous oxide.” BASF also claims to support wind power.¹⁰

Reacting to the Paris Agreement in 2015, Brigitta Huckestein, BASF’s senior manager of energy and climate policy, said, “We support the United Nations’ goals for achieving a global, long-term and reliable agreement to reduce emissions — preferably with an internationally binding price for CO2.”¹¹

In a 2019 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) disclosure, BASF described itself as a company that creates “chemistry for a sustainable future,” writing that “we combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility.”¹² The company went on to disclose that from 2019 onwards it has pursued a new goal: “CO2-neutral growth until 2030.” CDP recognized BASF as a “global leader in corporate climate action and water security,” awarding the company an A rating in the 2018 Climate Change List.¹³

In February 2020, BASF became the first “Carbon Literate Organization” in the UK chemical sector, after working with the Carbon Literacy Project to develop an “accredited, company-specific course which allows participants to be certified as ‘Carbon Literate’.”¹⁴

U.S.-based nonprofit the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in 2019 described BASF as one of “a number of leading companies” that has reversed the trend of American businesses staying silent on climate policy, using its “influence to build momentum for Congressional action on climate change.”¹⁵

But a 2017 report by Influence Map, tracking 50 large corporations most influential in shaping climate policy globally, found that 35 of the firms were actively lobbying against climate policy. BASF was listed as the sixth worst in terms of “increasing opposition to Paris Aligned Climate Policy.” The company sat alongside other environmentally destructive and anti-climate policy corporations including Koch Industries, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Dow Chemical.¹⁶

A 2011 Greenpeace report titled “Who’s holding us back? How carbon-intensive industry is preventing effective climate legislation,” likewise revealed how “major polluting corporations” like BASF, Shell, Eksom, and Koch Industries were “influencing governments and the political process on climate legislation.” The report also noted that during the 2010 U.S. elections, “BASF strategically donated US$61,500 US dollars to ‘Senatorial candidates who have been outspoken in their opposition to comprehensive climate policy in the U.S., and candidates who actively deny the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and is caused by people.’”¹⁷

In 2007, then-BASF CEO Jurgen Hambrecht said in an interview for Der Spiegel that he had “a problem with the term ‘climate change’,” adding that it was “laden with fear” and that the climate “has always changed.”¹⁸

Regarding solutions within the agriculture sector that could help the industry adapt to climate change, BASF CEO Martin Brudermüller told Politico Europe in a sponsored piece that “innovative seed breeding is needed to develop crops that are resilient to climate change” and that achieving sustainable farming would only be possible if “policymaking and regulatory requirements support the necessary levels of investment” to “increase innovation in biological and chemical plant protection products with more sustainable profiles.”¹⁹

In response to a question about whether EU policies with climate implications for the agriculture sector, including the European Green Deal and the Farm-to-Fork Strategy, would threaten BASF’s crop protection business, Brudermüller said that the groups want to help transform European agriculture using innovation by “actively reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting biodiversity and minimizing the use of natural resources” but added that the success of those goals would depend on “realistic targets that are based on scientific evidence.”²⁰

Majority ownership of oil and gas company linked to Russian operations

BASF holds 67 percent of shares in oil and gas company Wintershall Dea AG, according to BASF’s 2021 Annual Report.²¹ In 2020, Wintershall derived roughly a fifth of its pre-tax profit from operations in Russia, according to the Financial Times.²²

Wintershall is a joint venture with LetterOne, a global investment company.²³ Co-Founders of LetterOne, Mikail Fridman and German Khan, were sanctioned by the UK and the EU following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.²⁴ ²⁵ ²⁶

The EU Sanctions report stated that Khan, who resigned his board positions at LetterOne and Wintershall after being sanctioned, is “believed to be one of the most influential persons in Russia,” and that he “continues to trade significant favors” and maintain a “close relationship” with Russian president Vladimir Putin.²⁷ ²⁸ ²⁹

In March 2022, Wintershall announced that it was stopping all payments in and out of Russia with “immediate effect,” which Financial Times described as “one of the largest corporate casualties of the invasion of Ukraine so far.”³⁰

In July 2022, German news program Tagesschau published an article stating that “energy producer Wintershall Dea is currently earning record sums from Russian gas.” The article suggested that Wintershall’s profits were helping to “fill Russia’s war chest” at a time when German industry was “sounding the alarm” on threats to German gas supply due to the war, “with the chemical giant BASF leading the way.”³¹

The article stated:

“Critics see the company from Kassel [Wintershall] as a lobbyist for the Russian energy giant Gazprom. … Internal documents belonging to the ARD magazine monitor available show how Gazprom has tried to use Wintershall to pursue its interests: ‘Wintershall is our biggest supporter in Europe’, it says there. Gazprom expects the cooperation to result in ‘a stronger lobby’ in Germany and ‘better protection against sanctions’ for Russia.”

Wintershall stated that it did not know of such a communication strategy, and that its own communication strategy was never shaped by Gazprom.

BASF has indicated that it wishes to sell its stake in Wintershall. In January 2022, Reuters reported that BASF was hoping to sell its stake on the stock market.³² In May 2022, Bloomberg reported that BASF was “exploring a plan to offload energy assets in Russia belonging to its Wintershall Dea AG unit to its Russian billionaire joint venture partner.”³³

Digital and precision agriculture

BASF promotes precision agriculture strategies, which proponents say will allow farms to use high-tech gear to increase their resilience to the impacts of a changing climate.³⁴ On its website, BASF describes some of the activities involved in precision agriculture and compares its technical complexity to drilling for oil.³⁵

BASF has promoted precision farming in the context of the EU Farm to Fork deal. In a 2022 BASF press release published by Danish website Via Ritzau, BASF Nordic’s head of agricultural services stated:³⁶

“In light of the EU’s Farm to fork strategy, where farmers must reduce the use of plant protection by 50% by 2024, it is thought-provoking that so many farmers do not use precision technology today. Precision technology makes it possible to treat the soil with exactly what it needs, and this typically means spraying and fertilizing less. …the technology will also make it possible to introduce CO2 improvements where it makes sense.”

Speaking at a forum on climate change and agriculture, Luke Bozeman, BASF’s director of North American crop protection, said that agriculture will need to change as the climate changes, referring to precision agriculture and digitization. “What we’re going to see is a lot more collaborations to share the costs and the risks of investing in some innovations for future potential changes,” he said.³⁷

In early 2020, BASF announced an increased sales projection for its agricultural innovation products to more than €7.5 billion. The firm declared that by 2029, it would launch over 30 key projects in line with its agricultural strategy.³⁸

In September 2020, BASF sponsored an article in Crop Production Magazine that promoted the transition towards regenerative agriculture as a path that “can take us to net zero without any loss in productivity.”³⁹

On a webpage titled “The future farm,” BASF wrote that “water stress, rocketing energy and production costs will drive innovation solutions,” claiming that farming in the future will “demand better soil” and “more advanced crop protection solutions.”⁴⁰

In 2019, BASF Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director Geoff Mackey spoke on an Innovation Forum podcast about the importance of precision agriculture now and in the future. “We need to look at the benefits of having technology and bringing innovation,” he said, adding that “I think drone technology is a very interesting and developing area.” When asked about the future of precision agriculture, Mackey said, “Perhaps I could talk about the use of drone technology applying products, planting, harvest without the use of human feet. Perhaps we set technology loose and actually control it from a different view.”⁴¹

In a Friends of the Earth report which looked at whether digital farming can address the causes of agriculture’s environmental impacts, BASF was mentioned as among the “Big Four” agrochemical giants that want to “maintain their market share.”⁴² The report referenced a separate report by the Konkurrenz Group stating that the agricultural race “will be to increase the farmers’ dependence on the Big Four’s digital platforms, where based on the data collected, farmers will rely more (rather than less) on the Big Four’s traits, seeds and pesticides for their increasingly automated precision farming.”⁴³

Role in Pesticides Controversy

Roughly a third of BASF AG’s 2019 sales were herbicides, 30 percent fungicides, and 10 percent insecticides. The remaining 27 percent were other agricultural products such as seeds.⁴⁴

A February 2020 investigation by Greenpeace’s Unearthed journalism project found that “close to half (41 percent) of the leading products of the agrochemical giants BASF, Bayer, Corteva, FMC and Syngenta contained at least one” highly-hazardous pesticide.” This included glufosinate, a chemical manufactured by BASF that can impair fertility and harm human fetuses.⁴⁵

BASF has been the target of lawsuits alleging that BASF and Bayer knew that their dicamba pesticides would spread from farms where they were sprayed, but predicted that other farmers would then be driven to buy dicamba-resistant seeds — allegations that the company has denied.⁴⁶ “A federal jury determined that German agribusiness giants Bayer and BASF will have to pay US$250 million in punitive damages to Bader Farms, the largest peach farm in Missouri, for damage caused by their dicamba-related products,” Investigate Midwest reported in February 2020.⁴⁷ “Bader Farms is among thousands of farms, comprising millions of acres of crops, that have alleged dicamba damage since 2015,” the story said.⁴⁸

A 2020 investigation by the Guardian revealed that BASF and fellow agriculture giant Monsanto “were aware for years that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system would probably lead to damage on many U.S. farms,” with some internal emails showing BASF and Monsanto employees joking about hoping to stay “out of jail.”⁴⁹

Lobbying against EU Farm to Fork

BASF has lobbied against targets to halve pesticide use in Europe included in the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy.

In response to the announcement of the Farm to Fork strategy, BASF published a document titled “Feedback on the Farm to Fork Roadmap Strategy” on its website. The document stated that BASF supported the European Green Deal and the “ambitious and holistic approach” of the Farm to Fork strategy, and that “plant sciences, agricultural technologies, including Climate Smart Agriculture as well as innovative animal feed additives have an important role to play in meeting these objectives.”⁵⁰

The document also stated that BASF “acknowledge[d] the Commission’s objective to reduce both risk and use of pesticides based on societal concerns and demands,” but argued that “research in plant science has enabled production of safe and sustainable food, increased yields, reduced food loss, and extended the shelf life of agricultural products,” and suggested that “advances” in pesticide technologies have “reduced application volumes by 95%” while “reducing naturally occurring health risks, such as carcinogenic mycotoxins in food.”

However, pesticide use in Europe was largely “stable” between 2011 and 2020, according to Pesticide Action Network,⁵¹ and worldwide use of pesticides has increased by 80 percent since 1990, according to Friends of the Earth Europe.“⁵²

BASF’s response to Farm to Fork also argued that “moving to 100% organic farming would result in an increase of greenhouse gas emissions” if the total area of land used for agricultural production “had to be increased to compensate for reduced productivity” that could result if pesticide use was reduced.⁵³

The document also claimed that “for every kilogram of CO2 equivalent invested in the manufacture and use of plant protection products [pesticides and herbicides], at least 10 kilograms of the gas is removed from the atmosphere thanks to [crop] yield increase.”

While the EU has set targets to increase the amount of organically farmed land in the EU to 25 percent by 2030, it currently has no targets to transition to 100 percent organic agriculture.⁵⁴

2022

In March 2022, Livio Tedeschi – BASF’s senior vice president of agricultural solutions for Europe, Africa, Middle East, and CIS countries – wrote a sponsored article for Brussels Times which questioned the first steps of the Farm to Fork strategy and European Green Deal (which includes the EU’s Biodiversity strategy), writing: “are they going in the right direction to bring the vision into reality?”⁵⁵

Tedeschi added:

“Various impact assessments on the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies have shown that the implementation of reduction targets alone without alternative solutions such as the introduction of innovative technologies would have detrimental effects on productivity and competitiveness of the whole agri-food system in Europe. Moreover, the war in Ukraine has made us painfully aware that food security and safe supply chains cannot be taken for granted.”

Of seven impact assessments on the European Green Deal, five have been funded by the industry, including one by CropLife Europe, of which BASF is a member.⁵⁶ Academics,⁵⁷ campaigners, and the European Commission itself⁵⁸ point out that the studies are “incomplete and partial,” fail to fully account for positive impacts that could result from more sustainable food production, and do not consider what will happen if no action is taken to avoid climate breakdown and biodiversity loss that could lead to a global crisis in food production.⁵⁹

Tedeschi also argued that policies to support sustainable food production should “shift the focus from [agrochemical] reduction to innovation,” writing: “Looking back at the two years, we see some initial steps in the right direction, however the main focus of the Farm to Fork strategy and its first implementation measures is still more on reduction targets than on new technologies. I believe that producing enough food sustainably cannot be achieved by simply reducing the solutions available to farmers.”⁶⁰

In March 2022, corporate watchdog group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) released a report that stated BASF was one of the pesticide companies involved in “a counter-lobby of huge proportions” against the EU Farm to Fork strategy.⁶¹

The report questioned whether the industry was “co-opting” Integrated Pest Management (IPM, an integrated system for managing pests, diseases, and weeds favored by the EU) “as a route for agri-industry false solutions.” Corporate Europe Observatory wrote: “In a lobby meeting of CropLife Europe (attended by BASF, Corteva, Bayer, and Syngenta) with the Commission, the option was even raised that EU member states would approve IPM crop-specific guidelines designed by industry.” CEO commented that “it would be a recipe-for-failure if vested pesticide interests were allowed to draft any IPM guidelines.”

BASF and others have also lobbied on the 2022 revision of the EU’s Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD), which was reviewed in order to align it with Farm to Fork targets.

In BASF’s response to the public consultation on the revision, it indicated that it “strongly disagreed” with the a statement in the consultation that read: “It is necessary to reduce the use of chemical pesticides in the EU.”⁶²

According to Corporate Europe Observatory, representatives from Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, and Corteva spoke at the March 2022 CropLife Europe Conference.⁶³ The event, which was scheduled in the run-up to the European Commission’s expected publication of its proposal for the revised SUD, involved high-level commission officials and covered topics including the SUD revision, the target to reduce pesticide use by 50 percent, and standards and trade policies pertaining to pesticides.

2021

In an interview published ahead of the 2021 World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit, an annual conference for the “global agtech industry,”⁶⁴ Tedeschi stated: “Currently, the Farm to Fork strategy focuses more on reduction targets than on new technologies. For BASF, innovation is the foundation of sustainable transformation.”⁶⁵

In June 2021, Dirk Voeste, senior vice president at BASF, published an article on LinkedIn titled “Changing The Agricultural Food System For The Better,” which stated that the company “acknowledge[s] society’s desire to reduce reliance on pesticides” and “understand[s] why the EU Commission published its intention to achieve a 50% reduction in use and risk of pesticides by 2030.”⁶⁶ However, the post also called on the European Commission to conduct impact assessments and develop indicators to evaluate the “impact associated with all available farming solutions, including: land-use efficiency, productivity, quality and food security, water protection, and operator, consumer and environmental safety,” and argued that it was “a prerequisite that any reduction target will be preceded by a holistic impact assessment considering all relevant EU strategies.”

Multiple industry members have made calls for a “holistic impact assessment” of Farm to Fork measures, with Politico calling it “a key lobbying objective of Farm to Fork skeptics.”⁶⁷ According to campaign group Corporate Europe Observatory, “such assessments tend to favour economic factors over social and environmental ones, only delaying progress towards tackling the climate emergency.”⁶⁸

In October 2021, AmCham Hungary posted about an online plenary session regarding Farm to Fork, in which Anja Klatt, senior manager of government affairs at BASF, spoke alongside Dr. Zsolt Feldman, Hungary’s State Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, at the Ministry of Agriculture. Discussing Klatt’s keynote speech, the article stated, “any type of reduction target must be preceded by a holistic impact assessment, forecasting the pros and cons of its impact.”⁶⁹

Dr. Forman was said to have emphasized “the need to keep a delicate balance between environmental measures and their economic impact” and that “it is important that farmers are not forced to become eco-friendly by way of reprimands. Rather, they must be encouraged to do so with measures that also benefit them in the long term.”⁷⁰

2020

In an interview with Politico in November 2020, BASF’s CEO Martin Brudermüller argued for “realistic targets that are based on scientific evidence” in the Farm to Fork strategy.⁷¹ He added: “It will also be necessary to strike the right balance between the need to develop world-class productive farming systems and the need to preserve biodiversity. Economic viability is also part of the sustainability equation.”

In a June 2020 article in Ag News, which discussed the Farm to Fork pesticide reduction target, Livio Tedeschi wrote: “chemical crop protection products are one of the biggest drivers of agricultural productivity. Such a reduction would lead to considerably lower productivity per hectar of land, if not replaced by alternative solutions. Better management of the food supply chain and food waste will help, but certainly not close the gap.”⁷²

Tedeschi also argued that “technologies such as precision farming” can “lead to a reduction of risk and use of pesticides, contribute to a lower CO2 footprint and increase biodiversity,” but cautioned that the EU would have to “create the regulatory and legal environment for them to thrive.”

He added: “Regulatory restrictions slowing down the introduction of new-generation crop protection products or high hurdles for advanced breeding techniques, for example, will have to be reconsidered if we want a realistic path towards the Farm to Fork goals.”⁷³

Lobbying for trade deal to increase pesticide exports

In April 2022, environmental NGO Friends of the Earth Europe and EU-focused NGO Seattle to Brussels Network published a report on the proposed EU-Mercosur trade deal, which would affect trade between the EU and the Mercosur countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.⁷⁴

The report stated that if ratified, the deal “will heavily increase crop exports to Europe, and imports of dangerous agrochemicals to South America, particularly Brazil,” and that the potential for increased agricultural exports “risks aggravating existing problems with the conversion of forests and other important ecosystems for agriculture, and adds to the toxic burden of pesticide-intensive agriculture on nature and local communities.”

The report also highlighted that European agrochemical giants including BASF and Bayer “have been promoting the EU-Mercosur trade deal through lobby groups” and “sought to increase market access for some of their most harmful pesticides by joining forces with Brazilian agribusiness associations.” The report claimed that European companies work with agribusiness lobby groups like CropLife Brasil (which was founded by Bayer and is associated with BASF) to water down environmental policies, writing: “Their joint lobby efforts have borne fruit: pesticide use has multiplied sixfold over the last 20 years and a record number of new pesticides has been approved in Brazil since Jair Bolsonaro came to power.”

The report added that Bayer and BASF have benefitted from the proposed deal and government support for pesticides, writing: “Together, Bayer and BASF have got 45 new pesticides approved over the last three years, 19 of which contain substances prohibited in the European Union.”⁷⁵

A September 2020 report by Public Eye likewise found that: “In 2018, some 30 companies exported banned pesticides from European soil, including German giants Bayer and BASF.”⁷⁶

Lobbying

In 2021, BASF SE and its subsidiaries spent US$1,680,000 on U.S. lobbying according to OpenSecrets.org.⁷⁷ Most of the budget, US$1,440,000, went to in-house staff, with the remaining funds going to two lobbyists with the firm McLarty Inbound, which represented Wintershall Holding (majority owned oil and gas company).⁷⁸

BASF spent €3,000,000-3,399,999 in 2021 on EU lobbying, according to its entry on the EU Transparency Register. Main targets included: “EU Green Deal, Circular Economy, Sustainable Finance, Energy & Climate Policy, Innovation & Research, Trade Policy, Health & Environmental Policy, Chemicals Policy, Construction, Crop Protection Policy, Biotechnology, Internal Market, Competitiveness, Industrial Policy, Social and Employment Policy.”⁷⁹

BASF has had 37 meetings since 2014 with the European Commission, according to its Transparency Register entry.⁸⁰ According to the EU Transparency Register, BASF SE spent between €3,000,000 – €3,249,999 on lobbying in 2020.

An archive of lobbying disclosures compiled by ProPublica shows that BASF has lobbied on climate change in the US. “BASF supports legislation on climate change that ensures that reduction targets are economically feasible and technologically reasonable,” BASF’s lobbying disclosure reads. “Policies must allow energy-intensive and trade-exposed (EITE) companies to remain globally competitive (carbon leakage protection).”⁸¹

Among the lobbying on bills disclosed by BASF’s lobbyists is “Environmental Justice and Role of Sustainable Chemistry, S. 3296”.⁸² That bill, according to the American Chemistry Council, “would direct the president to establish an interagency sustainable chemistry entity to promote and coordinate federal sustainable chemistry research, development, demonstration, technology transfer, commercialization, education and training activities.”⁸³ The bill failed to progress in 2018. It was reintroduced for the 2019-2020 session as S. 999.⁸⁴ According to Gov Track, provisions of the bill were incorporated into H.R. 6395, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.⁸⁵

A 2010 report by the Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E) revealed that a number of large companies, including BASF, Bayer, and BP, had disproportionately donated funds to U.S. Senate candidates who were either “known climate change deniers,” or to senators who voted against the Obama administration’s cap-and-trade legislation, seen by activists as a major contribution to the fight against climate change.”⁸⁶

BASF was given an overall “C” grade by NGO Transparency International in its 2018 Corporate Political Engagement Index, with the company given a “D” for its “responsible lobbying” practices.⁸⁷

In August 2020, Norway’s largest private asset manager, Storebrand, divested its US$2.7 million stake in BASF, as well as its stakes in ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Rio Tinto, “citing their lobbying practices regarding climate.” Storebrand CEO Jan Erik Saugestad told Reuters that “If you have corporates that are spending a lot of resources and energy to try to avoid that regulation that is required, that is clearly not supportive and not in the long-term interest of anybody, if you want to reach the climate goals or the [United Nations] sustainable development goals.”⁸⁸

In May 2019, BASF responded to investor pressure and committed to undertaking a review of its climate lobbying activities.⁸⁹ It was also one of 13 U.S. companies to launch the “CEO Climate Dialogue” in May 2019, an initiative that was created with the aim of lobbying President Trump and the United States Congress to pass new legislation that would address climate change by introducing a price on carbon, with the goal of reducing emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Other founding members of the “CEO Climate Dialogue” included DuPont, Shell, BP, Unilever, and Dominion Energy.⁹⁰

In February 2021, Corporate Europe Observatory reported that BASF had invited Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to an online wine-tasting to discuss the Farm to Fork strategy.⁹¹ BASF reportedly offered to send MEPs “six small bottles” of wine to “celebrate Portugal’s unique wines.” Corporate Europe Observatory scrutinized BASF for the event over concerns that transparency rules were not being properly applied. Politico Europe reported that a BASF spokesperson said the event was “in accordance with the spirit and the letter of the European Parliament’s lobbying rules.”⁹²

In June 2021, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a network of over 140 European environmental NGOs, reported that BASF had been among ten companies lobbying to water down draft legislation on the regulation of polymers, the main ingredient in plastic, resin and paint and an ingredient of many products.⁹³

BASF engages in media partnerships with Brussels-based media outlets, mainly Politico Europe and EURACTIV, where it promotes and supports content,⁹⁴ organizes events and sponsors newsletters targeted towards EU policy makers and stakeholders.⁹⁵

BASF has been a client of several public affairs consultancies registered within the European Union. In 2020, BASF spent less than €9,999 on the services of FIPRA International SRL,⁹⁶ and between €24,000 – €49,999 on the services of EPPA S.A.⁹⁷

Affiliations

BASF is a member of CropLife International, which the firm describes in its 2019 sustainability report as “a global trade association of agrochemical companies representing the plant science industry.” CropLife International has six member companies: FMC, BASF, Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, Syngenta and Sumitomo Chemical.⁹⁸

Bayer, BASF, Corteva and Syngenta are the four members of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC), which claims to “provide factual information and education about the agricultural use of GM technology in the UK.”⁹⁹

In a 2019 “Industry Associations Review,” BASF acknowledged that the American Chemistry Council’s position on climate policies was “ aligned” with BASF’s view.¹⁰⁰

In 2019, Politico reported that four of Europe’s biggest agrochemical companies — Corteva, Bayer, Syngenta and BASF — were ending their involvement in EuropaBio, a trade group which represents companies involved in biotechnology.¹⁰¹ However, as of September 2022, a representative of BASF was still listed as a “regular member” of EuropaBio on the group’s website.¹⁰²

BASF is a partner of BusinessEurope, which describes itself as “the leading advocate for growth and competitiveness at European level.”¹⁰³ ¹⁰⁴

In July 2022, Corporate Europe Observatory accused BusinessEurope of “deploy[ing] the Ukraine crisis to serve their agenda,” because the organization sent a letter to the European Council in March 2022 which called on the EU to “impose new requirements only when absolutely necessary” and to avoid “burdensome requirements” in light of the invasion.¹⁰⁵ ¹⁰⁶

BASF is a member of the Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition (SPG), which was launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the United Nations Food Systems Summit in 2021.¹⁰⁷ The USDA describes the coalition as a “channel for cooperation to foster more sustainable and climate-smart agriculture, while ensuring the availability and affordability of food around the world.”¹⁰⁸

Its members include states (such as the EU, the U.S., and Brazil), academic and research institutions, and foundations and other organizations, alongside the private sector. Private sector members include: Bayer, CropLife International, FMC Corporation, Corteva Agriscience, Syngenta, the Fertilizer Institute, and the U.S. Dairy Export Council.¹⁰⁹ COPA-COGECA described the coalition as “the building of an anti-F2F group,” according to Corporate Europe Observatory.¹¹⁰

In May 2021, BASF became a founding member of the European Carbon+ Farming Coalition.¹¹¹ According to the United Nations, the coalition “was launched as part of a larger effort to transform global food systems, under the auspices of the WEF [World Economic Forum]” and “aims to promote regenerative and climate-smart practices to better Manage Europe’s farmlands, contributing to the decarbonization of the European food system, healthier soils and more resilient farms.”¹¹² The majority of partners in the coalition are corporations, including Bayer CropScience and Syngenta Group, alongside just one university and one NGO.¹¹³

BASF also sponsors and sits on the international board of the Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC), a technical group run by agribusiness industry association CropLife International.¹¹⁴ BASF also leads its working group on “crop protection.”

IRAC describes itself as “the global authority on Insecticide Resistance Management,” and focuses on communication and education regarding resistance to insecticides, and developing and implementing “resistance management strategies.” IRAC’s international executive board also includes Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, FMC, Sumitomo Chemical, and Syngenta.¹¹⁵

IRAC Europe is represented on and regularly presents its findings to the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation’s Expert Working Group on Resistance to Plant Protection Products (EPPO), an intergovernmental panel which writes guidelines on pesticides for Europe.¹¹⁶ Pesticide Action Network says that guidelines written by the group “direct regulators to approve the most harmful chemicals and dismiss safer alternatives” in the EU, and that corporations “wrote their own rules in their own interest and [EPPO] officials approved them.”¹¹⁷

According to a 2021 video of an AmCham EU webinar on the Green Deal and Sustainable Agriculture, Thomas Narbeshuber, Managing Director of BASF Hungary, leads the AmCham EU Green Deal Working Group. Anja Klatt, BASF senior manager of government affairs for crop protection, also spoke during the event.¹¹⁸

Resources

1
“BASF Report 2019 – Economic, Environmental and Social Performance,” BASF. Archived Sept. 24, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
2
“BASF Report 2021,” BASF. Archived Jan. 18, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/IHIjY. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
3
“BASF profits rise despite looming gas crisis,” Expatica, July 11, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/44zTC
4
Von Herbert Kordes, Petra Blum, Jan Schmitt und Frank Konopatzki, WDR. “Putins langer Arm nach Deutschland?,” Tagasschau, July 28, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
5
Richard Partington. “Chemicals Firm BASF Biggest Beneficiary of UK Coronavirus Loan Scheme,” The Guardian, June 4, 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/ibTBd
6
“Pesticides: Competitive Analysis & Leadership Report 2018 – Bayer Ranks Number One, Followed by Syngenta, BASF, DowDuPont, and FMC Corporation,” PR Newswire, February 3, 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/3PDoU
7
“Corporate Climate Policy Footprint: The 25 Most Influential Companies Blocking Climate Policy Action Globally,” InfluenceMap, November 2022. Archived November 15, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
8
“Our Climate Protection Goal,” BASF. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/0io8H
9
“BASF Advocates Globally For More Climate Protection,” BASF. Archived November 12, 2020, Archive URL: https://archive.fo/xFzuT
10
“Our Solutions: Products For Climate Protection,” BASF. Archived November 11, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/1aOSF
11
“Executives From BASF & Others React to Paris Conference,” SBC Magazine, December 15, 2015. Archived November 11, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/uYNkN
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13
Martin Menachery. “CDP Recognises BASF As Global Leader in Corporate Climate Action and Water Security,” Refining & Petrochemicals, January 24, 2019. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/GAyf3
14
Tony Heslop. “BASF in the UK Accredited as Carbon Literate,” Carbon Literacy, February 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/lRNPO
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18
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20
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21
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22
Joe Miller. “Wintershall Dea to receive no Russian revenues until sanctions lifted,” Financial Times, March 2, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/aeTNj
23
“10. Investments Accounted for Using the Equity Method and Other Financial Assets – Annual Report 2021,” BASF. Archived October 25, 2022. Archived URL: https://archive.ph/Pitx9
24
Ludwig Burger and Thomas Escritt, “Sanctioned Russian oligarch steps down from board of BASF’s oil joint venture,” Reuters, March 15, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archived URL: https://archive.ph/N5zgJ
25
“Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK,” Gov.uk, July 26, 2022. Archived August 2, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
26
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27
“COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2022/429 of 15 March 2022 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” Official Journal of the European Union, March 15, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
28
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Joe Miller. “Wintershall Dea to receive no Russian revenues until sanctions lifted,” Financial Times, March 2, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/aeTNj
31
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32
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33
William Wilkes, Laura Hurst, and Eyk Henning. “BASF Studies Splitting Wintershall Into Russia, Other Assets,” Bloomberg, May 3, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/4IKBw
34
“Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era,” BASF. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/BvupE
35
“Precision Farming: Farming with maps, GPS and mobile devices,” BASF. Archived April 11, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/vBxwe
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37
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39
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42
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43
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44
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45
Crispin Dowler. “Revealed: The pesticide giants making billions on toxic and bee-harming chemicals,” Unearthed, February 2, 2020. Archived August 20, 2020. Archive URL: http://archive.fo/lPZS5
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47
Johnathan Hettinger. “Jury Orders Monsanto, BASF To Pay Peach Farmer $250 Million in Punitive Damages,” Investigate Midwest, February 15, 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/Xlvaa
48
Virginia Gewin. “Beyond Damaging Crops, Dicamba is Dividing Communities,” Civil Eats, November 8, 2018. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/Hdy07
49
Carey Gillam. “Revealed: Monsanto predicted crop system would damage US farms,” The Guardian, March 30, 2020. Archived November 10, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/bJx9C
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51
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1
“BASF Report 2019 – Economic, Environmental and Social Performance,” BASF. Archived Sept. 24, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
2
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3
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4
Von Herbert Kordes, Petra Blum, Jan Schmitt und Frank Konopatzki, WDR. “Putins langer Arm nach Deutschland?,” Tagasschau, July 28, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
5
Richard Partington. “Chemicals Firm BASF Biggest Beneficiary of UK Coronavirus Loan Scheme,” The Guardian, June 4, 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/ibTBd
6
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7
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8
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9
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10
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11
“Executives From BASF & Others React to Paris Conference,” SBC Magazine, December 15, 2015. Archived November 11, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/uYNkN
12
“CDP Disclosure – 2019,” BASF. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
13
Martin Menachery. “CDP Recognises BASF As Global Leader in Corporate Climate Action and Water Security,” Refining & Petrochemicals, January 24, 2019. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/GAyf3
14
Tony Heslop. “BASF in the UK Accredited as Carbon Literate,” Carbon Literacy, February 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/lRNPO
15
Tom Murray. “The Businesses That Are – And Are Not – Leading on Climate Change,” Environmental Defense Fund, November 9, 2019. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/mBJL9
16
“Corporate Carbon Policy Footprint,” InfluenceMap, September 2017. Archived November 12, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
17
“Who’s Holding Us Back?,” Greenpeace. Archived November 12, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
18
Kate Sheppard. “BASF CEO Questions Whether Climate Change is a Problem,” Grist, June 28, 2007. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/NSWKl
19
Martin Brudermüller, “Success of the EU Green Deal will depend on tech,” Politico Europe, November 16, 2020. Archived October 23, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5jrsY
20
Martin Brudermüller, “Success of the EU Green Deal will depend on tech,” Politico Europe, November 16, 2020. Archived October 23, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5jrsY
21
“10. Investments Accounted for Using the Equity Method and Other Financial Assets – Annual Report 2021,” BASF. Archived October 25, 2022. Archived URL: https://archive.ph/Pitx9
22
Joe Miller. “Wintershall Dea to receive no Russian revenues until sanctions lifted,” Financial Times, March 2, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/aeTNj
23
“10. Investments Accounted for Using the Equity Method and Other Financial Assets – Annual Report 2021,” BASF. Archived October 25, 2022. Archived URL: https://archive.ph/Pitx9
24
Ludwig Burger and Thomas Escritt, “Sanctioned Russian oligarch steps down from board of BASF’s oil joint venture,” Reuters, March 15, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archived URL: https://archive.ph/N5zgJ
25
“Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK,” Gov.uk, July 26, 2022. Archived August 2, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
26
“Fourth package of sanctions in view of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine: 15 additional individuals and 9 entities subject to EU restrictive measures,” European Council, March 15, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/8WNuB
27
“COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2022/429 of 15 March 2022 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” Official Journal of the European Union, March 15, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
28
“Change in the Supervisory Board of Wintershall Dea AG,” Wintershall Dea, March 15, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/SPTY7
29
Rupert Neate. “Three more Russian billionaires resign from LetterOne board,” March 7, 2022. Archived October 25, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/1CoWE
30
Joe Miller. “Wintershall Dea to receive no Russian revenues until sanctions lifted,” Financial Times, March 2, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/aeTNj
31
Von Herbert Kordes, Petra Blum, Jan Schmitt und Frank Konopatzki, WDR. “Putins langer Arm nach Deutschland?,” Tagesschau, July 28, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
32
“BASF presses for Wintershall Dea IPO in dispute with co-owner,” Reuters, January 31, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/0ZFSS
33
William Wilkes, Laura Hurst, and Eyk Henning. “BASF Studies Splitting Wintershall Into Russia, Other Assets,” Bloomberg, May 3, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/4IKBw
34
“Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era,” BASF. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/BvupE
35
“Precision Farming: Farming with maps, GPS and mobile devices,” BASF. Archived April 11, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/vBxwe
36
BASF A/S. “Nye digitale redskaber kan minimere brug af planteværn og gødning, men mere end hver tredje landmand er ikke i gang,” Via Ritzau, August 31, 2022. Archived September 6, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
37
John Hart. “Ag Must Adapt to Climate,” South East Farm Press, March 10, 2019. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/IcFlN
38
“BASF’s New Focused Approach Boosts Agricultural Innovation Pipeline by 25%,” Seed World, February 28, 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/Tndo4
39
Tom Allen-Stevens. “Climate Change Champions – Each Plant is Important,” Crop Production Magazine, September 7, 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/lPNL9
40
“The Future Farm,” BASF. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/vEXKn
41
“BASF on Why Precision Agriculture is the Future,” Innovation Forum, February 20, 2019. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/scuaQ
42
Mute Schimpf. “Digital Farming,” Friends of the Earth Europe, February 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
43
“An Updated Antitrust Review of the Bayer-Monsanto Merger,” The Konkurrenz Group, March 6, 2018. Archived November 12, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
44
“BASF Report 2019 – Economic, Environmental and Social Performance,” BASF. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
45
Crispin Dowler. “Revealed: The pesticide giants making billions on toxic and bee-harming chemicals,” Unearthed, February 2, 2020. Archived August 20, 2020. Archive URL: http://archive.fo/lPZS5
46
Jef Feeley, Tim Bross, Bloomberg. “Bayer Is Facing A New Wave of Herbicide Lawsuits – And This Time It’s Not Over Monsanto’s Roundup,” Fortune, February 17, 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/l3erd
47
Johnathan Hettinger. “Jury Orders Monsanto, BASF To Pay Peach Farmer $250 Million in Punitive Damages,” Investigate Midwest, February 15, 2020. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/Xlvaa
48
Virginia Gewin. “Beyond Damaging Crops, Dicamba is Dividing Communities,” Civil Eats, November 8, 2018. Archived November 12, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/Hdy07
49
Carey Gillam. “Revealed: Monsanto predicted crop system would damage US farms,” The Guardian, March 30, 2020. Archived November 10, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/bJx9C
50
“BASF – Feedback on the Farm to Fork Strategy Roadmap,” BASF. Archived December 5, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
51
“Pesticide Use in Europe,” Pesticide Action Network Europe. Archived December 5, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wtLZL
52
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DeSmog

DeSmog

BASF

Background

Stance on Climate Change

Majority ownership of oil and gas company linked to Russian operations

Digital and precision agriculture

Role in Pesticides Controversy

Lobbying against EU Farm to Fork

Lobbying for trade deal to increase pesticide exports

Lobbying

Affiliations

Resources

Related Profiles

APCO Worldwide

Hugh W. Ellsaesser

Al Pekarek

Benny Peiser

DeSmog

DeSmog

BASF

Background

Stance on Climate Change

Majority ownership of oil and gas company linked to Russian operations

Digital and precision agriculture

Role in Pesticides Controversy

Lobbying against EU Farm to Fork

Lobbying for trade deal to increase pesticide exports

Lobbying

Affiliations

Resources

Related Profiles

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