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Bayer, the giant of crop science and chemistry, announced that it would invest more than $ 5.6 billion in research on weed killers and mitigate its impact on the environment, a decision made as a result of three consecutive verdicts rendered by a jury regarding one of its best-selling herbicides.
Bayer acquired Monsanto during a $ 63 billion acquisition last year, creating the world's largest seed and agrochemical company. However, the merger left Bayer with a market valuation of $ 56 billion and a lasting crisis in public relations. Bayer has been involved in litigation over claims that Roundup is carcinogenic, even though the company routinely defended the safety of glyphosate and Roundup. Last month, Bayer said that "glyphosate products can be used safely and that glyphosate is not carcinogenic".
Billions of dollars for weed research, as well as the promise to reduce the company's environmental footprint by 30% by 2030, represent more than a change in research and policies. It also marked a change of tone for Bayer. On his website, accompanied by a full-page ad in the Washington Post on June 14, the Washington Post, Bayer said, "We listened, we learned."
"As a new leader in agriculture, Bayer has increased responsibility and unique potential to advance agriculture for the benefit of society and the planet," the company said. "We are determined to take on this responsibility."
The company said that "glyphosate will continue to play an important role in agriculture and in Bayer's portfolio". But the chemical has been a complicating factor since Monsanto went under the Bayer empire.
We have heard your questions and concerns about our role in agriculture. These concerns are important to us. Starting today, we are raising the bar and making an effort to intensify our efforts for transparency and sustainability: https://t.co/8SBJAH0rsD pic.twitter.com/ZuxlzkgM7I
– Bayer AG (@Bayer) June 14, 2019
A month ago, jurors allocated $ 2 billion to a Californian couple who blamed their cancer diagnoses on Roundup. Bayer's shares fell, as after two other verdicts involving Roundup. In March, a jury awarded $ 80 million to a California man who reported that Roundup had given him non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. And in August, a California jury awarded $ 289 million to a former gardener who blamed Roundup for its terminal cancer. (A judge then reduced this amount to $ 78 million.)
Beyond these verdicts, Bayer is potentially facing thousands of other lawsuits, claiming that its agriculture and landscaping work had led to direct and lasting contact with the herbicides of Monsanto.
Still, the Environmental Protection Agency granted Monsanto a regulatory victory earlier this year, claiming that glyphosate did not pose "any risk to public health when its current label is used" and that "glyphosate is not not a carcinogen ".
This article was written by Rachel Siegel, a Washington Post reporter.
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