Bayer AG, the parent of Monsanto, says it will cut its its environmental impact by 30% and invest $5.6 billion into find alternatives to its widely used glyphosate-based weed-killer RoundUp.
“While glyphosate will continue to play an important role in agriculture and in Bayer’s portfolio, the company is committed to offering more choices for growers and will invest approximately 5 billion euros in additional methods for combat weeds over the next decade,” Bayer said in a statement released Friday.
“This R&D investment will go towards improving the understanding of resistance mechanisms, discovering and developing new modes of actions, further developing tailored integrated weed management solutions and developing more precise recommendations through digital farming tools,” the German company said.
RoundUp is the world’s most popular herbicide.
Bayer, which purchased St. Louis-based Monsanto last year, faces mounting legal challenges after two California juries ruled in favor of men with lymphoma and blamed the herbicide for their disease. Bayer said it would appeal the court decisions.
Thousands of similar lawsuits are pending.
The company also said Friday it will use innovation to cut its agricultural footprint 30% by 2030.
“Bayer aims to achieve this by developing new technologies, scaling down crop protection volumes, and enabling more precise application,” the company said. “This will help to restore and retain biodiversity, combat climate change, and make the most efficient use of natural resources.”
Bayer said it will work with weed scientists around the world to help “develop customized solutions for farmers at the local level.”
“The company will apply consistent safety standards to its products — even when it means exceeding local regulations,” the company said.
“Since 2012, Bayer has stopped selling all products that were considered acute toxicity class 1 by the World Health Organization, regardless of whether they were allowed in a particular market.”
The company also said it is “raising the bar in transparency.”
Bayer said it began releasing all of its safety-related crop science studies online last year for anyone to see. Since then, the company said it has released hundreds of studies for nearly 30 compounds, including all 107 company-owned glyphosate studies.
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