(114c) Creating Chemistry for a Sustainable Future

Imagine a future where we can use our creativity and innovation power to help solve some of the largest global sustainability challenges of our times. Are we doing enough to enable this?

Investing in businesses that seek positive economic, ecological and social impact is becoming imperative. We will be judged by our communities, by our work-force, by the talent pool of Millennials, by investors. We will be judged in the courts of social media and public opinion. We have to act now; authentically, and for the right reasons

Chemical companies are positioned uniquely to solve the global sustainability challenges. But we have to take a holistic look at these challenges; going beyond our typical value chains and including the larger eco-system of stakeholders. That is, going beyond current business models to co-creating solutions.

For example, Chemistry plays an active role in improving energy efficiency of homes. There are many opportunities to co-create solutions to improve this situation. BASF therefore, is partnering with other stakeholders to change state laws and make it easier to update residential building codes. This challenged us to work with new stakeholders: industry partners, architects, city planners, builders, citizens, governments and many more. This is what we mean by co-creation.

BASF is convinced of the importance of the UN Sustainability Development goals to our long-term success. This is not solely about recycling or bio-based raw materials; those are of course important. Moving forward, however, requires us to build upon existing platforms and address critical issues such as transparency, education, diversity and inclusion – to just name a few.

No single company can address all the seventeen UN sustainability development goals on their own. Co-creation is the way forward to address both the overlaps and the gaps.