A decade after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Henkel takes stock. In the Sustainability Report 2001, which was presented at the General Meeting of Shareholders on May 6, 2002, the strengths and weaknesses of the Company´s sustainability policy are laid out in a systematic retrospective. Alongside detailed information and figures for the year 2001, the report documents the Company´s sustainable business management process and sets new and demanding targets.

At the heart of Henkel´s sustainability policy are products and innovations. The report draws on a variety of examples to illustrate
how the Company´s sustainability strategy contributes to long-term increase in the value of the company. Moreover, the sustainability performance from 1992 to 2001shows that Henkel has significantly reduced its consumption of resources and its emissions, while during the same period its sales rose by more than 80 percent and its profits increased to more than two and a half times the base figure.

Sustainable development is clearly an objective of Henkel´s corporate strategy. The Company is currently drafting sustainability standards, which will define how it lives up to its social responsibilities in all parts of the world. For this purpose the Group-wide Management System for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality will be expanded to cover social aspects by the end of 2004.

Henkel began publishing an annual environment report in 1992. It has been successively expanded to include safety and health, then social responsibility , thus evolving into the Sustainability Report.