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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · Global · 2012–2026

The four biggest agrochemical firms each bought a biologicals company, 2012 to 2026

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva and BASF each acquired a biological-input company between 2012 and 2026. The sources reviewed tie the same firms to carbon-payment and digital farming programmes, but do not say what those programmes do to soil or emissions.

What?
Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva and BASF each bought a biologicals firm between 2012 and 2026, according to CHEManager and company statements CHEManager
Where?
Global agrochemical markets CHEManager
When?
2012 to 2026, per the acquisitions listed CHEManager
Who?
Gained
  • Bayer, Syngenta Group, Corteva and BASF — bought biologicals firms: AgraQuest, Valagro, Stoller and Symborg, and AgBiTech CHEManager
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Acquisitions of biological-input companies, alongside carbon-payment and digital farming programmes CHEManager
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Bayer bought AgraQuest in 2012 for 425 million dollars, according to CHEManager.

Syngenta Group acquired the biologicals company Valagro in 2020, according to its own newsroom.

Corteva bought Stoller and Symborg in 2023, with the sources giving 1.59 billion dollars for the two deals, and BASF bought AgBiTech in 2026 (CHEManager).

Bayer's carbon programme pays up to 16 dollars an acre with a nitrogen add-on, and Bayer measures and verifies the credits, according to Bayer's February 2024 description.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record One passage gives 1.2 billion dollars for Corteva's Stoller purchase alone; the sources reviewed do not reconcile this with the 1.59 billion dollar figure.
    • None on record Reported without a link: Yara acquired Agribios and Ecolan; UPL set up a biologicals unit; Corteva's mancozeb business passed to UPL.
    • None on record Reported without a link: Cargill's RegenConnect programme targets 10 million acres by 2030, and a Nutrien programme reported about 1,500 tonnes of CO2e reductions across 146 farmers.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not state whether the carbon payments reduced emissions, or the purchase price of Valagro.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Company or project

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

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