Sustainability > EHS > 2007 Environmental Performance

Biodiversity

According to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the effective protection and use of biodiversity at all levels – genes, species and ecosystems – is a precondition for sustainable development.1

Increasing Pressure on Global Biodiversity

Human activities worldwide continue to cause the loss of plant and animal species at a rate much higher than the background rate of extinction, which reflects an extinction rate that occurs naturally in the evolution of plant and animal species over time.

From 1970 to 2005, ground-living vertebrate species have declined by 25 percent, with most of the decrease occurring since 1980. During the same time period, marine species have decreased 28 percent and freshwater species have decreased by 25 percent.2

For example, in his book, “The Future of Life,” former Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson estimates that with present global activities, the current extinction rate is more like 1,000 to 10,000 times the historic rate.

At a United Nations forum in April 2002, forum members agreed “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth.” UNEP supported this objective and the World Summit on Sustainable Development endorsed it. Available data suggest that the world will fail to meet the objective.

Baxter and Biodiversity

While biodiversity is not among Baxter’s nine sustainability priorities, the company recognizes its importance and will continue to report on elements of company operations that impinge upon biodiversity and the company’s activities to mitigate those impacts.

Land Use

Baxter owns or leases approximately 910 hectares of land, about one quarter of which is impermeable surface. Although the company operates in countries that are home to 16 of the world's 25 biodiversity "hot spots" as identified by Conservation International, Baxter’s operations are located in light industrial areas in metropolitan regions outside of those hot spots. A hot spot is an ecosystem that is biologically rich and endangered.

Partnerships

Baxter works with various organizations to protect biodiversity.

One such organization is the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois, United States, with which Baxter has been affiliated for more than 20 years. One of the most visited public gardens in the United States, the 385-acre garden’s mission is to promote the enjoyment, understanding and conservation of plants and the natural world.

Baxter’s annual financial support helps more than 200 Chicago Botanic garden scientists, researchers and students who are making vital discoveries about plant survival, habitat destruction, invasive species and restoration.

In 2007, Baxter strengthened this partnership through a series of meetings – to better understand garden activities, education programs and opportunities to collaborate in the future.

Baxter also has been involved for many years with rain forest preservation in Costa Rica. The Tapanti National Park, located near Baxter’s Cartago, Costa Rica, manufacturing site, is home to about 260 species of birds and 45 species of mammals, including the ocelot, jaguar and tiger cat (an endangered species). The government has increased the size of the park during the past two decades from approximately 37,000 hectares to more than 345,000 hectares.

Cartago facility employees began to volunteer at the park in the early 1990s on government-supported infrastructure improvement projects, such as an enhanced visitor education center. Baxter’s Cartago facility went carbon neutral in 2007, and in 2008 is working with the government of Costa Rica to educate both private and public entities about how to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Controlling GHG Emissions from Operations

Baxter’s continued efforts to reduce energy usage and associated GHG emissions from its operations also help protect biodiversity. According to E.O. Wilson, global warming and resulting climate change will alone cause one-quarter of the earth's animal and plant species to become extinct by 2050.3

Baxter's Bioethics Policy

Biodiversity is an element of Baxter's Bioethics Policy: “ Baxter recognizes that protecting the environment and maintaining the biological diversity of our planet is of vital importance to human life. Baxter believes in the importance of maintaining global biodiversity and sustainable use of global resources.”

1 UNEP, Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity.

2 World Wildlife Fund report, “2010 and Beyond: Rising to the Biodiversity Challenge."

3 E.O. Wilson, “The Future of Life.”