Business standards and values

Linde's Code of Ethics defines clear standards that govern our relationships with each other, as well as with customers and suppliers, authorities and other business partners. The Code of Ethics is binding for all employees of Linde AG and its worldwide subsidiaries.

Our Code of Ethics is flanked by additional, globally applicable guidelines and standards in core areas:

Our corporate responsibility policy defines the key areas of action and fundamental principles of responsible business practice at Linde.
In our Group policy on safety, health, environment and quality, we commit to mitigating harm to people and the environment to the best of our ability.
Our procurement principles (Ethical-Legal Principles Procurement) provide a framework on how to deal with business partners and outline how we expect them to behave.
We expect our suppliers to comply with social, environmental, ethical and minimum standards as laid out in our code of conduct for suppliers.
Our compliance guidelines help to ensure compliance with laws.
Human rights
In our Code of Ethics, we commit to the principles of the Human Rights Charter of the United Nations. As a participant of the UN Global Compact, Linde also supports the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We investigate the extent to which the Group’s global guidelines take compliance with human rights into account. The guidelines and processes audited and adapted so far include the Code of Ethics; the procurement guidelines, conditions and agreements; the Integrity Line policy and Enterprise Risk Management. The Executive Board of Linde AG also passed a statement on human rights for the Group, in which we reaffirm our support of human rights and describe Group processes that substantiate this commitment.