Nov. 20, 2007 Bayer says it will pour 1 billion Euro ($1.46 billion) over the next three years into a companywide initiative aimed primarily at developing new product-based solutions to climate change.

The new Bayer Climate Program sets out new emissions-reduction targets for 2020. But Werner Wenning, chairman of Bayer's board of management, emphasizes that Bayer's newly drafted policy on climate change goes beyond emissions reduction to include product-based solutions, such as energy-saving insulation materials.

"We want to continue growing," he says, "not least because we manufacture innovative products for efficient climate protection and for dealing with climate change."

New projects focus on the following:

Zero-emissions commercial buildings. "EcoCommercial Building" is a concept for zero-emission buildings that employs Bayer insulation products and other energy efficiencies specially adapted to various climates. In spring 2008, the company will break ground on a new office building near New Delhi, India, that it says will consume 70% less energy than comparable buildings in India.

Improved crop yields for food and biofuels. Bayer aims to develop new biotechnologies to make plants more resistant to climatic conditions such as drought and heat. The company is also working on a range of crop protection products for crops used to produce biodiesel fuel.

Highly efficient, lower-emissions manufacturing. Bayer has developed a new control instrument for increasing energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions from its production plants. The Bayer Climate Check tool assesses emissions from both manufacturing processes and upstream stages of production, including raw materials, energy, and logistics. Bayer says it will offer the tool on the open market in 2008 once it has been independently certified.

More information, including clips of Bayer executives discussing the new initiative, is available on Bayer's climate program microsite.