What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company? 

At Bayer, our diverse portfolio presents unique challenges when it comes to sustainability. Each of our business sectors—crop science, pharmaceuticals, and consumer health—requires tailored approaches. For example, our crop science division faces distinct environmental challenges, while our pharmaceutical and consumer health sectors grapple with different sustainability issues, some of which aren’t directly tied to operations. It’s worth noting that here in Chile, we don’t produce pharmaceutical products, so our sustainability challenges focus more on ensuring the longevity and ethical integrity of our business practices.

The legal department plays a crucial strategic role in this context. Our responsibility is to anticipate and mitigate potential future impacts of today’s operations. This involves not just complying with regulations to avoid future claims but also evaluating risks in every project or development we undertake. I often say that compliance is a fundamental aspect of sustainability. It’s about looking ahead and ensuring that our actions today don’t compromise our success in the years to come.

Challenging the status quo in a sustainable manner is also essential. This means constantly innovating and introducing new tools and approaches. To do this effectively, the legal team must stay closely connected to the business. I believe in getting out of the office and into the field regularly—whether that’s visiting agricultural sites to understand crop operations or accompanying pharmaceutical teams to see how we interact with healthcare providers and stakeholders. This hands-on experience is crucial for truly understanding where risks lie and how we can enhance our sustainability efforts in the short, medium, and long term.

In-house lawyers, in my view, are fundamentally risk managers. Our focus isn’t just on immediate profits but on ensuring that our actions today yield consistent or improved results in the future. Sustainability, for me, is about living the law—ensuring that our business practices today set us up for success tomorrow. To achieve this, we must stay close to the core of our operations and fully understand how everything works.

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?