Independent Assurance Report on People and Planet

To the readers of the Integrated Annual Report of Royal DSM N.V.

Introduction

We were engaged by the Managing Board of Royal DSM N.V. to provide limited assurance on the sections ’Sustainability strategy’, ‘People in 2010’ and ‘Planet in 2010’ (further referred to as: ‘The Sustainability Information’), included in the chapters Sustainability strategy, People in 2010 and Planet in 2010 in the Integrated Annual Report 2010. Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of The Sustainability Information. Our responsibility is to provide limited assurance on this information.

What was included in the scope of our assurance engagement

Our engagement was designed to provide limited assurance on whether The Sustainability Information is fairly presented, in all material respects, in accordance with the G3 guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative supported with the internal reporting guidelines as described in Sustainability reporting approach.

Procedures performed to obtain a limited level of assurance are aimed at determining the plausibility of information and are less extensive than those for a reasonable level of assurance.

We have also assessed, to the extent of our competence, whether the information on sustainability in the Integrated Annual Report is consistent with The Sustainability Information.

Which reporting criteria did DSM use

Royal DSM N.V. applies the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (G3) supported with internal corporate reporting guidelines as detailed in Sustainability reporting approach of the Integrated Annual Report. It is important to view the performance data in the context of this explanatory information. We believe that these criteria are suitable in view of the purpose of our assurance engagement.

Which assurance standard did we use

We conducted our engagement in accordance with Standard 3410N ‘Assurance engagements relating to sustainability reports’ of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Register Accountants. Amongst others, this standard requires that the assurance team members possess the specific knowledge, skills and professional competencies needed to understand and review the information and that they comply with ethical requirements, including independence requirements.

What did we do to reach our conclusions

We undertook the following procedures:

• performed a media analysis and internet search on environmental, safety and social issues relating to DSM, to obtain information on relevant sustainability issues in the reporting period;
• reviewed the systems and processes for information management, internal control and processing of the qualitative and quantitative information in the report, at corporate level;
• interviewed relevant staff at corporate level responsible for the reported information on specific issues including sustainability strategy, employee engagement survey, ECO+, safety;
• collected and reviewed internal and external documentation to determine whether the qualitative information is supported by sufficient evidence;
• reviewed the environmental data submitted by all sites for central aggregation, together with an assessment of the quality of the data validation process at corporate level;
• reviewed the results of environmental data reviews which formed part of the Operational Audits at key DSM sites in 2010 carried out by the Corporate Operational Audit department of DSM;
• reviewed the environmental data trends and the explanations provided in the report and discussed these with management at corporate level;
• checked the GRI application level declared by DSM in Sustainability reporting approach.

During the assurance process we discussed changes to the various drafts of The Sustainability Information with DSM, and reviewed the final version of The Sustainability Information to ensure that it reflected our findings.

What are our conclusions

Based on the procedures performed, as described above, we conclude that The Sustainability Information does not, in all material respects, appear to be unfairly stated in accordance with the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (G3) of the Global Reporting Initiative supported with the internal reporting criteria as described in Sustainability reporting approach.

We also report, to the extent of our competence, that information on sustainability in the Integrated Annual Report is consistent with The Sustainability Information.

Amsterdam, 22 February 2011
KPMG Sustainability

Signed by W.J. Bartels