The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) set a global plan for peace and prosperity. They were adopted ten years ago, in September 2015, at the UN World Summit. BASF Coatings supports selected SDGs through its own priorities and concrete measures.

On the basis of its business activities, BASF Coatings has defined sustainability focus areas. “Climate protection, eco‑efficient solutions with resource‑conserving materials, and safe and sustainable products for our customers – these are our priorities,” says Dr. Markus Piepenbrink, Head of Sustainability at BASF Coatings. “We actively drive these topics and thereby contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

While the UN treats all 17 SDGs equally, companies select priorities aligned with their core activities. BASF Coatings concentrates particularly on climate protection, quality education, sustainable innovation, clean energy, decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, and gender equality. The company links environmental and social aspects within each target area.

BASF Coatings makes a significant contribution to Goal 13: Climate Action. Across the entire value chain, the company works continuously to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, for example by using renewable energy at many of its global production sites. The company now sources almost 70% of its global electricity needs from renewable energy. In addition, BASF Coatings supports customers with CO₂‑reduced products, including those based on the biomass balance approach, as well as CO₂‑reducing painting processes and surface solutions.

With its innovations, BASF Coatings addresses urgent future challenges and supports Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. The company develops new products and optimizes processes and raw material use together with customers and partners. For example, BASF Coatings and Lufthansa Technik introduced the sharkskin technology, an innovative surface film that improves aircraft aerodynamics and thus reduces CO₂emissions. Another example is VIANT, a novel coating technology that combines conversion coating and primer paint in just one coating layer and can be applied in a single dip, thereby reducing electricity, water and chemical use. A third example is the Overspray-Free Application process (OFLA) for sustainable two-tone coatings. By applying two colors in a single pass during serial production, up to 80% of energy consumption and CO₂ emissions can be reduced. With such innovations, which also act as CO₂‑reducing solutions, BASF Coatings offers its customers another powerful lever to achieve ambitious Scope 1 climate targets.

Goal 4: Quality Education is also part of the commitment. This starts with nurturing the company’s own young talent through vocational training and dual study programs across a wide range of professions. At the Münster and Würzburg sites, the company currently trains 132 young people. A special emphasis is on lifelong learning. BASF Coatings offers employees modular, continuous development programs throughout their careers to prepare them for constantly changing professional and societal demands. The program already covers topics from technical innovations and system training to digital skills, including training for working with artificial intelligence. In addition to training and further education for its own employees, BASF Coatings builds bridges between school and work and supports initiatives such as “Jugend forscht.” With the R‑M Best Painter Contest and support for participation in the global WorldSkills competitions, the company specifically promotes the next generation of vehicle refinish painters.

“Sustainability is both our obligation and our opportunity,” says Piepenbrink. “We want to create positive impacts for the environment and society and drive change together, thereby supporting the UN goals.” The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, is a shared plan for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. At its core are the 17 SDGs, which call for urgent action by all countries, developed and developing alike, within a global partnership.