The biggest driver of our ecological deficit is the fossil fuels we continue to extract from the ground in staggering quantities — oil, coal, gas. Burning them releases enormous amounts of CO₂ that forests and oceans simply can't absorb fast enough. Which is why switching to renewable energy sources matters more than ever.

The direction is right. The pace is not.

This shift is already well underway. In 2025, global renewable energy capacity was more than double what it was ten years earlier — and it's picking up speed, according to the latest report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Solar is the biggest driver, with capacity up more than tenfold since 2015. Wind power has tripled over the same period.

The result: roughly a third of the world's electricity now comes from renewable sources. And renewables have long since taken over when it comes to new capacity — according to IRENA, they accounted for more than 85 percent of all newly installed capacity in 2025. Perhaps most striking: the cost of solar power has dropped by around 90 percent over the past fifteen years, making it the cheapest way to generate electricity in many parts of the world.

And yet — it's not enough. Because electricity is only part of the picture. Heating, transportation, industry — the vast majority of global energy demand still runs on fossil fuels, which account for around 80 percent of it. Every day we stick with this energy mix deepens our ecological debt: more CO₂, more resource consumption.

Wind turbines and solar panels need to be built to last

One factor often goes unnoticed: it's not just about how many new installations go up or how cost-efficient they are. It's also about what they're made of. The materials have to withstand extreme conditions, perform reliably for decades — and be recoverable at the end of their life. Without that, the energy transition is only half a promise.

A wind turbine is no simple piece of equipment. Its components are exposed to storms, salt, heat and UV radiation. That demands coatings that hold up. The connection between an offshore wind farm and the mainland has to work reliably — even on the ocean floor.

Solar installations face their own challenges: heat, humidity and constant sun exposure. And in battery systems, one of the biggest hurdles is protecting cells from overheating. None of this would be possible without high-performance plastics.

Specialized coatings, for example, protect rotor blades from wear at the leading edge — one of the most common reasons turbines fail prematurely. Seals and damping materials keep connections tight and absorb vibration. Rugged housings and frames shield the technology inside. Unglamorous, perhaps — but without these solutions, the rise of renewables simply wouldn't be possible.

Materials matter

Keeping these materials in circulation reduces the need for fossil raw materials. That means designing the plastics used in wind and solar installations from the outset so that they can be efficiently recovered, processed and reused in equivalent applications without any loss of quality. Circular plastics reduce the demand for virgin raw materials — and make energy installations less dependent on finite resources.

Covestro develops exactly these kinds of materials: protective coatings for rotor blades, elastomers for underwater cables, framing materials for solar panels. The company is working to bring these plastics back into the loop at the end of their useful life.

Because renewable energy and circular material flows have to be thought of together. Both are needed to reduce resource consumption, curb CO₂ emissions — and push Earth Overshoot Day back where it belongs: later in the year.

The SDGs may face an uphill battle in times of war, confrontation, economic stagnation, and general uncertainty. Yet they remain both right and important. To give the "Agenda 2030" fresh momentum, the UN is placing particular emphasis on science. To this end, it launched the "International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development" initiative in 2024. Its core objectives are to show people the enormous benefits that research and innovation can deliver, to empower them to apply knowledge, and to restore the damaged trust in this sphere.

Two years after its launch, an initial stocktaking is now taking place – at a major conference in Paris attended by over 800 people from politics, science, civil society, and business. This collaborative approach is absolutely the right way forward, and the inclusion of industry is all the more so. For industry is the link between new findings, good ideas, ambitious plans, and their implementation. Turning knowledge into action requires the expertise and commitment of millions of companies around the globe.

The chemical industry offers a prime example of how this can succeed. On one hand, it is science-based and deeply rooted in the academic world –on the other, it is strongly application-oriented and experienced in scaling research successes from the laboratory through pilot and demonstration plants to large-scale industrial production.

From Lab to Market — Faster

However, technology transfer is progressing far too slowly in many places – in industrialized nations such as Germany, Japan, France and Italy, as well as in developing and emerging countries, particularly in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. The reasons range from a weak start-up culture, lack of digitalization and inadequate patent protection to paralyzing bureaucracy. These framework conditions urgently need to change if the Science Decade is also to deliver concrete results that contribute to the SDGs.

The chemical industry, including the plastics sector, has enormous potential that can still be harnessed much more effectively. Many companies can and want to help achieve the sustainability goals. Covestro, for example, strongly aligns its strategy with sustainable solutions – meaning products that contain non-fossil raw materials or have a lower CO₂ footprint.

The range is diverse – from lightweight plastics to promote electromobility and insulation materials to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, to innovations for agriculture. Seed coatings, for example: these cause crop protection agents to adhere to the grain rather than dispersing into the air – which not only benefits the environment but also reduces harvest losses caused by pests and fungi.

Covestro primarily promotes innovations that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Overall, the company contributes to all 17 SDGs to varying degrees and in different areas – and not only through products, but also through technologies. In the production of the insulation component MDI, for instance, an innovative process (AdiP) is used that significantly reduces energy consumption and, with it, emissions: the CO₂ footprint per tonne of product is up to 35 percent lower.

Building Trust in Science

Industry as a hinge between research and application – in business and science alike, this is common practice. Yet innovation and progress stand on shaky ground. Not only because of the frequently inadequate framework conditions, but also because of the widespread public scepticism towards – and even rejection of – science, which is amplified by internet-driven disinformation, misinformation, and misleading propaganda.

If the world is to achieve a genuine boost in knowledge during the Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development, then education and enlightenment are needed. Through facts, and above all through compelling examples of success: people must understand how science and business improve their lives – and what life would look like without them.

True strength, however, always has a mental dimension – it requires an intellectual foundation. It is therefore important and right that the Irish are placing emphasis on the values that define and attract people to Europe: democracy, freedom and the rule of law, tolerance and diversity.

But only those with a solid economic foundation can be truly strong. Europe's, however, is creaking worryingly.

Most dangerous in the long term: our capacity for innovation is declining. Research intensity, patent activity, venture capital financing, talent retention – at the critical levers, the gap with China and the United States is widening. No less alarming: investment activity is increasingly eroding, with more and more companies relocating their operations to other regions or being forced to shut them down in Europe.

A Strong Europe Needs a Strong Chemical Industry

This applies with particular force to chemicals – the mother of all industries. As Europe's second-largest sector, it supplies the basic materials for virtually every other industry – from automotive and pharmaceuticals to agriculture, energy and electronics. Without a strong chemical base, there is no strong industry, and no strong Europe.

Yet since 2022 alone, the chemical sector has already lost around ten percent of its production capacity and 20,000 jobs; nearly 90,000 more are at risk. At the same time, investment in new capacity has fallen by almost 90 percent.

Europe cannot function this way. This is how we become weaker, not stronger.

But there is a glimmer of hope. Ireland has set a clear additional priority for its presidency, alongside values and security: strengthening European competitiveness. For me, that means above all giving companies the regulatory environment without which they cannot operate and thrive – a demand that has been raised time and again, and which must now finally acted upon.

I will not list everything that needs to happen here. Ireland is addressing the right topics – from cutting red tape and ensuring energy security to expanding trade partnerships and deepening the single market.

What I want to emphasize above all is what must not happen. It cannot be that the EU, in a highly dynamic world, still shows so little flexibility. That it clings to principles established long ago under very different circumstances. This applies in particular to climate policy. Of course Europe must fight climate change and curb its consequences, that goes without saying. After all, our continent is warming faster than any other – the current heatwave is a stark reminder of what may still lie ahead.

Climate Policy Without Dogmatism

With the Emissions Trading System (ETS), Europe essentially has the right instrument for climate protection: companies that emit CO₂ must hold certificates to do so – those who emit less save money; those who emit more must buy additional allowances.

But the ETS must not be applied dogmatically. And yet that is precisely what threatens to happen. Continuously reducing the number of certificates, providing energy-intensive sectors like chemicals with ever fewer free allocations, and tightening the "benchmarks" – the conditions governing allocation: these plans strike at the very heart of the basic materials industry.

Because we simply lack what it takes to produce in a climate-neutral way: affordable renewable energy, functioning hydrogen infrastructure, markets for low-carbon products.

And one more thing: the free allocation of certificates is by no means a subsidy instrument – it is protection against carbon leakage. Because when production moves outside Europe, global CO₂ emissions do not fall. They rise. An ETS that tightens faster than industry can transform itself does not drive emissions out of Europe – it drives out investment. And that cannot be the goal.

As currently planned, the ETS could become the gravedigger of industry rather than the driver of the green transformation that Europe – rightly – pursues as a business and export model. Competitiveness – that agenda item could then be abandoned altogether.

Ní neart go cur le Chéile – unity is strength. That is true. But so is this: good intentions do not always make for good outcomes. The EU must not only focus on the right issues. It must have the courage to address them with realism and pragmatism.

Strength requires both.

Yet with every additional challenge, many people feel an increasing sense of powerlessness, growing doubt in their own effectiveness, and a self-perception as a mere cog in the machine. People are aware of the problems, feel the concerns – and yet fail to rouse themselves into action. All the more important, therefore, are impulses that pull us out of the role of spectator: community planting initiatives, clean-up days, open workshops, and initiatives such as the recently held worldwide Sustainable Energy Days, launched by the European Union.

Here, citizens, communities, organisations and companies have been encouraged to advance the energy transition locally – the overarching global mega-project to curb climate change and secure an increasingly volatile energy supply. From March to June, the aim was not only to explore clean energy solutions through grassroots actions – workshops, panel discussions, exhibitions, interactive experiences – but above all to put them into practice.

Energy Efficiency First

The spotlight usually falls on renewable energies, and there is indeed significant progress here – in 2025, global expansion reached an all-time high. Nevertheless, we should always keep in mind: The best energy is the energy we do not consume in the first place. The EU has accordingly enshrined "Energy Efficiency First" as a political principle. By 2030, the Union is to consume 11.7 percent less energy than projected in a 2020 baseline scenario without additional climate policy.

A key lever for greater efficiency is industry, which accounts for around one quarter of energy consumption in the EU. And it is precisely in this sector that the greatest efficiency gains can be realized in the short term. Studies by the EU Commission and the IEA show that those who utilize waste heat can achieve energy savings of up to 20 percent. And through new production processes, the energy requirements of individual operations can even be reduced by up to 60 percent.

But these are not mere theoretical models, this is lived reality. The step from wanting to doing – industry is taking it, and above all the particularly energy-intensive chemical sector. Covestro has now launched its largest energy efficiency project to date: At its Dormagen site in Germany, a compressor is being installed that heats waste steam and increases its pressure, allowing it to be optimally utilized in other production processes. 

Thanks to this single process innovation alone, the company will be able to reduce its total energy consumption in Germany by two percent per year going forward. In total, Covestro has already initiated more than one thousand such projects, all aligned with its strategic goal: to consume 20 percent less energy per tonne of product produced by 2030 compared to the beginning of this decade.

Hand in hand with this, the company is increasingly relying on renewable energies, which already supply several sites around the globe. Combined with savings, they are intended to help make ongoing operations climate-neutral by 2035. To this end, investments in the in the triple-digit million-euro range are planned by 2030.

Framework Conditions Hamper Implementation

But willing companies like Covestro must also be enabled to act. For them, efficiency and the transformation towards climate neutrality and a circular economy require a business case – in other words, economic attractiveness.

At present, however, many of the framework conditions, particularly in the EU, are structured in such a way that industry can barely advance its transformation. Among other things, there is insufficient renewable energy available at internationally competitive prices, and the EU is considering steps that would once again massively increase the CO₂ costs for companies.

Conclusion: We need inspiration through actions like the Sustainable Energy Days and awards like the European Sustainable Energy Awards, which were just presented in Brussels to companies, municipalities and individuals for outstanding projects. But we also need the right framework in which such projects can flourish. Then we can truly go from wanting to doing.

That is why countries around the globe are investing heavily in next-generation technologies. The United States is driving its industrial transformation through multi-billion-dollar programs, while China is strategically expanding its technological leadership. Europe, too, is focusing on research funding, more innovation-friendly framework conditions, and political initiatives such as the planned European Innovation Act, which aims to strengthen the links between fundamental research, industrial application, and investment.

Germany’s new High-Tech Agenda should also be seen in this context. Its objective is to focus more strategically on key future technologies such as artificial intelligence, microelectronics, and biotechnology. All of this is important and necessary. Yet what truly matters is not only generating new knowledge, but also how quickly discoveries can be translated into concrete applications, industrial processes, and market-ready solutions.

Research Must Deliver Impact

This is precisely where one of the greatest challenges for Germany and Europe lies. A persistent gap remains between excellent research and its industrial deployment. Many promising ideas never progress beyond the laboratory stage because reliable transfer structures, investment incentives, or industrial scaling opportunities needed for market maturity are lacking.

Accelerating innovation requires more than technology roadmaps alone. What is needed above all is a seamless innovation pathway, from basic research and pilot plants to large-scale industrial production. Only if science, industry, and policymakers work closely together in this way can innovations unfold their full economic and societal potential.

Taking a Broader View of Innovation

To build a truly future proof and globally competitive innovation ecosystem, a broad foundation and diverse drivers of innovation are essential. Innovation policy programs such as the German High-Tech Agenda therefore need to be conceived more comprehensively. Business should be more deeply involved – especially the chemical industry. Many key and cross-cutting sectors can only succeed with innovative materials and chemical processes. Whether circular economy, climate-neutral production, battery technologies, semiconductors, or renewable energy – chemistry is embedded in nearly every future-oriented industry and must always have a seat at the table.

Covestro provides a practical example of what this looks like. In electromobility, for instance, the company’s materials help make vehicles lighter, more efficient, more affordable, and easier to recycle – paving the way for mass-market adoption. Another field of the future is humanoid robotics, where artificial intelligence is enabling ever more capable systems. High-performance plastics, films, and coatings developed by Covestro bridge the gap between digital intelligence and physical action: they give robots structure and fine motor skills, reduce weight, and ensure the durability required for continuous industrial use.

What connects these examples is clear: material innovations are not niche topics but enabling technologies indispensable to nearly every industrial future area. Yet for these levers to achieve their full impact, more than isolated pioneers are needed. What is required is collective action across industries and sectors.

Innovation needs a holistic approach – this is also what Made for Germany stands for, a unique initiative bringing together around 130 companies from virtually every sector: from mechanical engineering and automotive manufacturers to energy providers, financial services companies, software developers, and chemical specialists. Covestro is also part of the initiative and has contributed concrete proposals, among other things, to strengthen technology and education.

Above all, the goal is to overcome silo thinking. Only then will good ideas move beyond theory and make a real world impact.

On Europe Day, May 9th, I ask myself: How much is this idea still worth, how enforceable is it still in a world changing so rapidly? Much has happened since my time as a student. The enlargement of the European Union brought more diversity, but its deepening also brought more complexity. And currently we are witnessing the shift from a multilateral to a multipolar order, in which international and supranational institutions and principles seem to be losing significance and influence.

But I remain convinced: cooperation and rules-based thinking and action are – and will ultimately remain – the key to success, to overcoming challenges and advancing humanity, in Europe and everywhere else in the world.

The question of capacity to act remains. In my current job as a "lobbyist" in the chemical industry, I often discuss the question: What can we control, what can we influence – and what do we have to let go? Applied to the EU and the European idea, this means: one must define one's sphere of influence and make decisions about the allocation of resources. In short, the EU should focus even more on its strengths.

Focus on strengths

And for me, that means above all strengthening the capacity for innovation. The EU and its 27 member states are full of ideas – with industries and companies boasting decades or centuries of experience, with start-ups driven by talent from renowned universities and practical expertise.

European countries still contributed to over 40 percent of global patent applications in 2024, with a clear focus on industrial sectors including transport, medical technology, biotechnology, and green technologies. This is clear evidence of the capacity to act. The chemical sector in particular has a high innovation potential.

In my day-to-day working environment, I see progress especially in contributions to creating a sustainable world – a top priority for Europe itself, where climate change is now making itself felt in full force. Companies like Covestro demonstrate how a climate-neutral and circular future can work: by designing products for circularity from the outset, manufacturing them with non-fossil raw materials, and ultimately recycling them using innovative technologies such as chemical recycling.

Europe has the ability to drive change, to produce new solutions for the continent and the world. And that is precisely what matters: showing the world that the EU is useful and delivers, that the European idea of diversity and cooperation is the very opposite of an outdated model.

But this also requires a deepening of cooperation. At the political level too, this means the institutional expansion of EU competences – for example in common industrial policy, energy and raw material security, the capital markets union, and a genuine European digital and innovation strategy.

Enhance cooperation

Industries and companies also need more cross-border networks and innovation projects, partly funded by the EU, that bring together companies and universities for a common purpose. In the chemical sector, we see this for example in European consortia for developing new battery materials, in joint pilot plants for hydrogen technologies, or in scaling innovative processes for climate-neutral basic chemicals.

But even beyond individual research projects, companies could cooperate more broadly – to invest, build up reserves, and jointly manage production, transport, and supply networks.

The European Union can help create the framework for this. One example: for the chemicals and plastics industry, there is currently too little certainty and too few incentives to invest in circular solutions. The proposals for how this can be changed are on the table. With the Circular Economy Act, the European Commission can still provide the decisive impetus this year – provided it does not limit the scope to critical (inorganic) raw materials.

Uphold the European project

Yet as important as the right political framework conditions are – what is decisive is that all actors are aware of the value of the European idea and actively contribute to upholding belief and trust in the European project. All member states joined the European Union with the promise of peace and prosperity, through the single market, based on social rights and environmental protection.

To fulfil these promises, it takes an optimistic will to make a difference, to make things work. It is about the ability to act and the awareness of that ability.

Europe does not run on autopilot. It is a choice – made anew every day. A choice for cooperation over isolation, for progress over stagnation, for courage over fatigue. If we make this choice, then the European idea will not merely stay alive. It will become the driving force of our future.

The region is warming twice as fast as the global average. In 2025, temperatures across at least 95 percent of Europe were far above the normal range, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns. And it simultaneously emphasizes what is now most urgent: a massive expansion of the circular economy.

Deliberations in Brussels

The warning comes at the right moment. A pivotal decision is currently being made within the EU: the College of Commissioners is deliberating on the direction of the Circular Economy Act – a landmark legislative initiative planned for this year that aims to accelerate Europe's transition to circularity.

That it must be advanced swiftly for environmental reasons alone is made abundantly clear by the WMO warning. But we should not promote the circular economy solely on environmental grounds. We must also recognize it as a strategic lever capable of strengthening Europe's resilience in the geopolitical arena – and at the same time as a major opportunity to drive the EU forward economically.

The circular economy holds enormous untapped economic potential – in Europe and worldwide. As the recently published Circularity Gap Report highlights, an estimated 25 trillion euros in value is lost globally every year due to the continued dominance of the linear economy – nearly one third of global GDP.

Untapped Potential

Germany, the EU member state with the highest material consumption, could also benefit enormously from a consistent and comprehensive introduction of the circular economy: the country’s gross value added from the circular economy could more than double from around 60 billion euros today to up to 125 billion euros by 2045. This is the finding of a comprehensive study by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and Boston Consulting Group.

Covestro, with its expertise in materials science, contributed to the study. Among other things, we are working on innovative technologies to enable the large-scale recycling of plastics – for example, polyurethane foam used in mattresses, of which an estimated 40 million are discarded and sent to landfill across Europe every year.

Chemical recycling can change this. Our "Evocycle^® CQ mattress" process makes it possible to break down the foam into its two core components and reuse them at high quality to produce new polyurethane.

This is part of a holistic approach in which we look not only at recovering products at the end of their life, but also at the very beginning of their creation – with design that incorporates circularity from the outset, and with renewable raw materials such as plant-based biomass instead of crude oil.

Priorities for Europe

Especially when it comes to raw materials, it becomes clear that the circular economy not only boosts economic strength but also increases resilience. Those who use materials for longer, more efficiently, and in closed loops reduce dependencies on raw material markets, supply chain risks, and price fluctuations. This also reinforces key areas such as energy and defense – two of the EU's most exposed flanks.

In Germany alone, consistent recycling and remanufacturing could reduce import dependency for rare earths by 20 percent and for strategic battery materials by 10 percent by 2045.

This is another reason why we should make 2026 the year of the circular economy and unlock its full potential. As the Commission deliberates on the Circular Economy Act, it should, in my view, be guided by three priorities.

First, create an efficient European market for secondary raw materials with as little administrative burden as possible. Second, set incentives to drive greater demand for and use of alternative raw materials, including recyclates – for example through tax benefits and greater consideration in public procurement. And third, improve investment security and thereby lay the foundation for technological expansion in the circular economy by ensuring that chemical recycling, in particular, is widely recognized in regulation.

Those who implement the circular economy consistently will gain ecologically, economically, and geopolitically. The Circular Economy Act offers the opportunity to turn this triple win into reality – and in doing so, to strengthen the long-term viability of both Europe and Germany.

Having drinking water of good quality, available at any time, is a luxury we should be conscious of in a country like Germany. In many regions of the world, the situation looks very different: one in four people has no access to safely managed drinking water.

At the same time, water is becoming scarcer worldwide. 3.6 billion people – nearly half the world's population – experience at least one month of water scarcity every year. A challenge that increasingly affects the Global North as well.

The European Union has long been focused on both aspects – quality and availability. The Water Framework Directive, in place since 2000, states: “Water is not a commercial product like any other but, rather, a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such.”

I am glad that this essential issue for humanity has been framed so clearly. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the goals cannot be achieved overnight. The latest revision of the EU directive, entering into force on May 10, aims for a "good status" for water bodies in the Union by 2039.

What I find particularly encouraging is that the political will remains strong. The European Commission is now also focusing on water resilience – protecting the water cycle, ensuring access to clean and affordable water, and building a "water-smart" economy.

The strategy extends to 2050, but the measures needed to implement it must begin now. Because alongside high quality, the adequate availability of water is crucial for life, the economy, and future prosperity – in Europe too.

The Chemical Industry: Part of the Problem and Part of the Solution

The chemical industry, where I work, plays a central role in this: it is both part of the problem and part of the solution. The problem is that, despite continuous improvements, its products still end up in waterways like the Rhine – as trace substances from households, as carelessly discarded waste, and, even with modern wastewater treatment technology, in some cases also from various industrial processes.

Many of my colleagues are working intensively to reduce these inputs: through better processes, cleaner production steps, and new treatment technologies. The industry increasingly relies on activated carbon filters, ion exchangers, and membrane bioreactors that remove pollutants from wastewater before it reaches rivers, lakes, or groundwater.

Through its products, the chemical industry also contributes to water protection. It provides materials for nanofilters, for example, that retain even the smallest pollutants and micro-contaminants – an important component of modern water treatment. Basic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid also play an important role in drinking water treatment. In this way, the sector contributes essential components to modern water purification.

At the same time, the industry is addressing water scarcity by recycling wastewater from production processes. Covestro, for example, uses an innovative technology it co-developed to recover water and salt, which can then be employed to produce the important basic chemical chlorine. Household and other wastewater can also be reused in production, thereby contributing to further savings.

To effectively protect our water bodies, industry, authorities, and policymakers need above all one thing: a shared understanding of which substances occur where and what effects they have. The new EU list of environmental quality standards, covering more than 70 regulated substances, illustrates how complex this task is.

Reliable data, uniform measurement methods, and a clear picture of interconnections are essential for effective action. When all stakeholders share their relevant information – from monitoring data and emission inventories to environmental trends – resources can be deployed where they deliver the greatest benefit.

Enabling Smart Regulation Through Dialogue

Good regulation therefore does not mean regulating "more", but regulating "smarter" – and doing so through dialogue. Environmental, chemical, waste, and climate requirements must be considered together so that measures complement rather than contradict each other, and so that investments remain predictable and manageable.

An important step in this direction is the "Structured Water Dialogues" that the EU intends to launch this year. They are designed to create common standards and base decisions on a solid, shared knowledge base. Industry is not a bystander in this process, but a co-creator – contributing data, technical expertise, and a willingness to invest when the environmental benefit is clear.

Clean water from the tap is no miracle. It is the result of collective effort. And the path to water resilience is the same: it is built through genuine partnerships – between policymakers who set ambitious but realistic goals, authorities who apply them proportionately, and an industry that invests in cleaner processes and better technologies. Because its own future also depends on the health of the water systems in which it operates.

It’s a waste of value and resources – something that becomes even more apparent to me on the occasion of the International Day of Zero Waste. According to UN estimates, around 19 percent of all food is affected, while another 14 percent is lost after harvest. At the same time, the total amount of waste worldwide is expected to increase by another half by the middle of the century. These are conditions we as a society can afford less and less. Food waste in particular is a nail in the coffin of global food security. And that security becomes increasingly precarious – especially this year.

In 2026, food systems are increasingly suffering from climate chain reactions. A particularly strong El Niño is expected – the global weather phenomenon that warms the Pacific and disrupts the jet stream, the fast-moving air current that circles the Earth. The result: droughts and floods in the world's most important growing regions. Ocean temperatures have also been rising dangerously—twice as fast as 20 years ago—with devastating consequences for fish stocks.

2026 Threatens a Particularly Critical Food Situation

What makes 2026 particularly critical for the global food situation is also the war in the Persian Gulf. If ammonia and urea can no longer pass through the Strait of Hormuz, fertilizer could become scarce – precisely when many farmers need it most. If they miss the narrow spring window, yield losses for this year and the next are inevitable.

Geopolitical shocks and climate turbulence make one thing abundantly clear to me: zero food waste is anything but a niche topic. It is an ambitious goal that must be tackled quickly, seriously, and systematically – day by day. I see three main levers that can help secure food for the world's growing population – by 2050 alone, we are expected to have 1.5 billion more people.

First: Save Calories
When fertilizer is scarce and timing is critical, efficiency is everything. Micro- and precision irrigation, for example, using dense networks of pipes and valves delivers "more yield per drop" and reduces harvest losses. Simple solar dryers – also made with high-quality plastics – help secure harvests and farmers' incomes in regions with high temperatures and frequent power outages.

Second: Save Kilos
In an El Niño year, shelf life matters. Highly efficient cold chains keep goods fresh – from field to kitchen, even during heat peaks and transport delays. Effective packaging is equally important. State-of-the-art, recyclable plastic films and coatings regulate oxygen supply and moisture, keeping food fresh for longer.

We must remember: producing the food itself usually requires far more resources than producing its packaging. If good, circular packaging helps prevent food from spoiling, the overall ecological balance is ultimately more positive.

On the other hand, when hygiene, demand, and logistics align, the unpackaged concept also works well. And in many households, precisely portioned quantities can reduce waste. What matters most is thinking from the end: generating as little waste as possible.

Circular Economy Contributes to Food Security

Which brings me to my third point: Closing the Loop
Food waste – which ideally should not be generated in the first place – should not end up in landfills. Instead, it should serve as valuable biomass to produce useful products. And packaging must be biocompostable or consistently recycled.

This requires diverse options and technologically new approaches, such as chemical recycling of plastics. We also need incentives, standardization, and transparency. Deposit systems, for example, return large quantities of PET bottles and enable bottle-to-bottle cycles. Digital labeling increases sorting accuracy and makes deposit and take-back systems scalable. And digital product passports make material flows visible and measurable.

We have the concepts, materials, and engineering expertise. But we are not applying them consistently enough – even as the need for action becomes ever more urgent. Packaging without a take-back route is not an embarrassment but negligence. Products without waste utilization in the business model are not an oversight but a risk.

Of course, it will be laborious and more expensive. But inaction costs more – ultimately even human lives. There are many ways to put a stop to food loss and waste. Let's get to it: pragmatically, science-based, collaboratively. From my kitchen to the supply chain.

In our world of upheaval – marked by instability, power projection, and the erosion of norms – we are witnessing the emergence of new guiding logics. I observe foreign and security policy becoming increasingly geoeconomic in nature, while geopolitics and security, in turn, gain growing importance in the business sphere.

Politics becomes geoeconomic – business becomes geopolitical

Politically, we see a shifting perspective on globalization and economic integration: they are now increasingly viewed as potential risks to independence and national security. Infrastructure and supply chains are being used as instruments of geostrategic influence, as illustrated by the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment or the EU’s Global Gateway initiative – both responses to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Trade and industrial policy increasingly serve as extensions of security policy by other means. Protectionism – through sanctions, export controls, and investment screening – has become the new normal.

And what about business? In an era in which tariffs and financial instruments are turning into geoeconomic weapons, a new mindset is taking hold. For me, too, this has meant rethinking long familiar assumptions. During the long era of globalization, with its transnational markets and institutions, corporate action operated under the primacy of efficiency. Now, resilience is emerging as an additional strategic benchmark.

A new paradigm for corporate action

Security is becoming an ever greater cost and steering factor in global value chains. Resilience, security, autonomy: under this banner, companies must increasingly reconfigure their procurement and sales markets – through multisourcing, regionalization, and re- , near- , or friendshoring. These principles must also guide production decisions: maintaining redundant structures, distributing sites across multiple countries, and broadening and decarbonizing the energy and feedstock base.

And that is not all. Cross cutting risks are increasingly spilling over into the corporate world and becoming more tangible at the political and societal levels. Hybrid threats such as cyber attacks, sabotage, and disinformation; environmental risks such as the planetary triple crisis of climate change, resource depletion, and pollution; and the volatility of global financial and currency markets – all of these factors make the economy systemically more vulnerable and require strategic responses.

Internally, the key priority is to firmly anchor resilience as a board level and governance issue. Externally, the importance of the economy – and particularly the basic materials industries – for the security and resilience of countries and alliances such as the European Union cannot be overstated.

Chemicals as a system critical sector

The chemical sector forms the foundation of nearly every value chain and plays an essential role in sectors such as energy, mobility, healthcare, infrastructure, and defense. It is also a driving force for climate neutrality and the circular economy. After all, the green transformation itself contributes to resilience, security, and autonomy – something we must not lose sight of amid the many acute global crises.

A strong industrial base – capable of future oriented innovation and driving domestic investment – must remain a central pillar in safeguarding and expanding national capacity to act. At the same time, I caution against excessive renationalization of economic activity. Innovation, investment, and value creation thrive only through openness, exchange, and cooperation.

Accordingly, the international system must evolve along two tracks: by forging new rule based alliances with those who share similar interests and perspectives, and by engaging confidently with systemic rivals, while keeping doors open. What we need are fair, resilient markets with clear rules – not arbitrary walls.

But the intellectual universe of the now very elderly scholar feels as if it belongs to another era. Our present is shaped by polarization, isolation, and self interest. Advocates of a “rules based order,” the foundation of the long period of globalization’s successes, are struggling. Value driven politics appears to many as little more than pleasant sounding rhetoric.

Another social theorist is enjoying a renaissance – Niccolò Machiavelli, the apologist of ruthless power politics. States, institutions, and social groups encounter one another with skepticism and rejection; confidence in the competence and problem solving ability of the other side is fading.

The result: irritation, uncertainty, a loss of trust. According to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer, released as always ahead of the World Economic Forum, an “insular mindset driven by grievance and pessimism,” now prevails.

Reviving Dialogic Communication

I am back in Davos this year, and the motto “A Spirit of Dialogue” resonates with me as a communicator. I am convinced that only through exchange and cooperation can the world ultimately move forward – despite all power driven egoism. It is overflowing with shared challenges that affect all eight billion people worldwide in one way or another and that require collective action – alongside the acute crises, particularly the threats to the Earth system.

To foster rapprochement and regain trust, we must return to thinkers like Habermas and strengthen dialogic communication. Building bridges through genuine exchange at eye level instead of merely presenting entrenched positions.

Listening instead of broadcasting, connecting instead of dividing. And jointly arriving at new insights and solutions – an approach that works well in business. At Covestro, we see that dialogic and partnership based collaboration makes innovation possible in the first place, enabling us to overcome problems and advance society – for example in the major project of the circular economy, the key to overcoming the global systemic crisis of climate change, species extinction, resource depletion, and environmental pollution.

If the WEF succeeds in conveying these insights more strongly, much would be gained. If the “Spirit of Dialogue” is rekindled, it could give new momentum to the many who are solution oriented – and counter the prevailing pessimism. But to achieve this, the summit – like other global forums – must also transform itself: initiating the shift from an elite conversation to a multilateral discourse.

From Elite Panels to Multilateral Discourse

A growing gap is emerging here. What decision makers and opinion leaders think and want often aligns only loosely with the views of the broader public – the “streets versus elites” narrative. This becomes evident, for example, in attitudes toward artificial intelligence, as PR consultancy FGS Global recently found: while managers mostly expect efficiency gains, the general population often fears job losses and higher energy costs.

What is needed are mediators between different worlds. This is where communication professionals come into play. They are increasingly becoming architects of trust, creating shared spaces for action. In our fragmented world, dialogic communication is becoming a strategic core competence. It must be fostered and disseminated. Habermas and similar thinkers are more relevant than ever.

What nevertheless gives me hope are two things. First, a growing political momentum in Berlin and Brussels. And second, the industry’s traditional strength – its innovative power – which must be directed even more strongly toward the big trends of sustainability and resilience. Because the chemical industry not only keeps the entire economy running. It can also help ensure that Germany and Europe remain autonomous in the geopolitical power struggle and continue the green transformation.

Both the federal government and the European Commission understand the importance and the difficult situation of our industry. And they are taking action. After Berlin launched a “Chemistry Agenda” late last year – aimed at reaching decisions by spring through deeper dialogue between industry and policymakers – the EU is now also moving: In Geleen in the Netherlands, the “Critical Chemicals Alliance” is being established – another roundtable to strengthen the sector, and one that is starting only half a year after being announced in Brussels.

Pressure from All Sides

This initiative, like the various other measures to improve the framework conditions, cannot come soon enough. Its agenda shows how much pressure the chemical industry faces from all directions: weak demand, growing international competition – some of it engaging in dumping – energy, raw materials, and labor that are too expensive, and not least a CO₂ pricing regime that is not competitive. More and more plants are being forced to shut down – disastrous not only for competitiveness and value creation, but also for Europe’s resilience.

The Alliance’s agenda also addresses issues that are less well known: European chemical plants are extremely old by international standards. The average age is 47 years, compared with under 30 in the U.S., less than 20 in the Middle East, and just around ten years in China.

These are structural deficits that must now be tackled with urgency. And like the federal government, the Commission also wants to achieve initial results quickly – many still in the first half of the year. Crucial here is close coordination between the EU level dialogue and the efforts within member states. Much more than before, these must complement and reinforce each other. And EU countries must implement the recommendations as quickly as possible and adjust their own mechanisms where necessary.

But despite all the optimism, old fears creep in. That Brussels may take the analytical process too far as it develops new assessment tools. And that it may slip even deeper into a mode of detailed central planning. If the goal becomes identifying which specific raw materials or which specific sites are “critical,” this might cause the regulatory and documentation jungle – finally beginning to clear – to grow back again. And it could ultimately divide our industry.

More Room to Maneuver

What the chemical industry needs – beyond all the necessary regulatory details – is room to maneuver. Only with less ballast can we accelerate and unleash our full innovative power. Innovation is Europe’s sharpest weapon in global competition. The federal government rightly wants to make Germany the world’s most innovative location for chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.

And our industry is pushing hard in that direction. Last year, despite the strained economic situation, research investments rose to a record €16.5 billion. Now it is crucial to channel these funds wisely.

Toward innovations in sustainability, which is increasingly becoming an economic necessity. Germany and Europe still have the chance to develop a credible and economically viable leadership role here. Security and autonomy form the second major future field that requires innovative solutions from the chemical industry. And here, too, our sector has much to offer – supported by the growing use of digital tools such as AI and quantum computing, which can catapult research and development into entirely new dimensions.

Germany and Europe, as knowledge-based economies, have enormous opportunities right now. But this requires freedom and openness – the opposite of planned economy constraints. In Germany, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs is advocating for more consistent regulatory policy. I hope this approach prevails in Brussels as well. And if our industry simultaneously recalibrates itself, then perhaps in the near future we will indeed be able to say: danger averted.

Because as fragmented and chaotic as geopolitics appears, the problems requiring joint solutions are deeply interconnected. Two comprehensive new studies published ahead of the conference in Kenya underscore this. They shook me – both negatively and positively.

First, the alarm signal. What the OECD states in its Environmental Outlook to 2050 should give us all pause – because it concerns us all, sooner or later: Climate change, species extinction, resource depletion, and environmental pollution are increasingly converging into a systemic “triple crisis” of planetary scale.

360-Degree View Instead of Silo Thinking

This connection must be vied and addressed much more holistically; humanity simply cannot afford silo thinking anymore. If we continue as we do today, experts warn that by mid-century we will see severe deterioration in all dimensions.

But now to the more encouraging side. If governments and businesses decisively invest in protecting climate and nature, millions of people could be lifted out of poverty and spared disease and premature death. Moreover, immense economic benefits beckon: By 2070, global economic output could be at least $20 trillion higher per year than under business as usual, according to the Global Environment Outlook recently presented by UNEP.

Non-Action Is Not an Option

Of course, investments are high – averaging around $8 trillion annually until 2050 for net-zero emissions as well as biodiversity protection and restoration. However, the costs of inaction would be significantly higher. Just consider what increasingly extreme weather events mean financially. That should resonate even with those skeptical of “green” topics.

I can only echo UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen’s message: “Either humanity continues toward a future ravaged by climate change, vanishing nature, degraded soils, and polluted air. Or it changes course and secures a healthy planet, healthy people, and healthy economies. That’s not really a choice.”

A sustainable world as a task, an opportunity, and an economic imperative – this perfectly matches my mindset. Despite all justified concerns, we must not see the future only in dark tones. And certainly not dismiss sustainability efforts as naïve or burdensome. Quite the opposite: If – simply put – more and more join in, the world can become livable again: cleaner, healthier, and more comfortable, smarter and more participatory. And also wealthier.

Harnessing High-Tech Materials

Ideas and plans abound. Knowledge, tools, and technologies exist, as the studies emphasize. This motivates me even more to advance the development of future-oriented materials such as high-tech plastics. They are essential to progress in virtually all areas of action.

Take the energy sector, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases fueling climate change: Plastics help transition to clean sources like wind and solar power. Or agriculture, the biggest driver of ecosystem loss. Plastics can enable more efficient, eco-friendly farming methods, for example through biodegradable seed coatings.

Circular Economy as a Comprehensive Concept

But, as mentioned, it’s not (only) about isolated solutions. It’s about conceptually linking climate, nature, and environmental protection more effectively. And there is a key strategy for this: the circular economy. A societal program that can unite conscious consumption, environmentally compatible production methods, and sustainable growth.

Applied consistently, it tackles the intertwined causes of the “triple crisis”: Climate- and health-damaging emissions will decline, we will need fewer resources, ecosystems and species will be preserved, and our waste volume will shrink.

This naturally includes ensuring that less plastic waste ends up in our environment. I very much hope we finally achieve a sensible global agreement on this – and that all actors prove the term “international community” does not become meaningless.

World Science Day for Peace and Development, celebrated every November, reminds us how essential scientific thinking is for progress and social cohesion. Without the willingness to examine, develop, and apply knowledge, not only research but society itself stagnates.

Facts Fuel Progress

Science is the foundation of every modern knowledge-based society. It helps us understand complex challenges and develop solutions – from the energy transition and new materials to global food security. But in an era where disinformation and simplistic narratives gain traction and research institutions face mounting pressure, science needs strong advocates.

For business – and especially for the chemical industry – science is not an abstract ideal but the basis for innovation, value creation, and sustainable growth. Covestro, for example, conducts global research on climate-neutral production, circular economy, and materials that improve life in countless ways. Without scientific excellence, there would not be any new technologies, no reliable data – and certainly no sustainable answers to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

When trust in scientific principles erodes, the willingness to innovate suffers. Progress becomes a matter of chance. That’s why Covestro relies on fact-based decisions – in the lab, in production, and in public dialogue. Only by believing in the power of knowledge can we shape the future. Science is not just a tool for progress; it is an expression of responsibility, for people, markets, and for our planet.

Education: The Key to the Future

Science thrives not only on research but on people who understand and carry it forward. Education is the key to embedding scientific thinking broadly in society. Only those who grasp the mechanisms of research, data, and technology can question critically and help shape the future.

Especially in the digital age, this is more important than ever. Artificial intelligence can accelerate scientific processes, connect insights, and spark new ideas. But it may also become a source of manipulation and disinformation. Media literacy, critical thinking, and trust in scientific methods are therefore indispensable to distinguish truth from deception.

Covestro is committed to promoting STEM education and exchange in schools, universities, and initiatives such as the European Youth Parliament. Science is not an end in itself – it is a shared responsibility, a bridge between people, markets, and opportunities. It creates peace, progress, and perspectives, linking facts with responsibility and ideas with impact.

World Science Day reminds us: Every innovation begins with a question – and with the courage to ask it.

Yet collective action is more urgent than ever, as recent data shows. 2024 not only set a new record for energy-related CO₂ emissions but was also the hottest year since records began. According to the UN Environment Programme, the world is currently on track for a temperature rise of 2.3°C by 2100 in the best-case scenario. That’s far better than the 3.7–4.8°C increase feared a decade ago when the Paris Agreement was signed. But limiting warming to 1.5°C – the goal once pursued with great enthusiasm – is slipping further out of reach and, according to the International Energy Agency, would now require an extraordinary global effort.

Leveraging a Key Tool for Climate Neutrality

One reason for this is that technological options to curb greenhouse gas emissions remain underutilized – especially in one area close to my heart: energy efficiency. Despite the popularity of renewable energy, efficiency still lives in the shadows. Yet improving efficiency is one of the most powerful levers for achieving climate neutrality in the energy sector, which is the largest source of emissions. In short: we must not only make energy greener, we must also use less of it. That’s the message I want to highlight at COP30.

The world is barely moving on energy efficiency. The goal set two years ago at the Dubai Climate Conference – to double the annual efficiency improvement rate to 4% by 2030 – is far off. In 2023 and 2024, the rate was just 1%, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. This means we need even greater efforts and must raise the rate to at least 5% to stay on track.

Driving E-Mobility and Building Insulation

The good news: it’s doable. Experts have long known what needs to be done and where – particularly in construction and transportation, which, alongside energy, are major contributors to CO₂ emissions and global warming. Key measures include switching to electric mobility and optimizing building energy performance. The concepts and technologies are already available.

This is where the chemical industry comes in. It supports climate-friendly electric vehicles by providing lightweight plastics that reduce battery weight and increase range. It also helps make buildings more energy-efficient through high-performance insulation that saves heating and cooling energy. Polyurethane foam is especially effective, offering the best insulation compared to conventional materials.

Of course, the chemical industry itself – a major energy consumer – must also improve efficiency. In Germany, for instance, the sector halved its specific energy use between 1990 and 2022, mainly by adopting combined heat and power systems. But finding new savings is becoming harder.

Covestro Targets 20% Efficiency Gain

That’s why companies like Covestro are developing new processes. This year, we upgraded a production facility in Dormagen, cutting energy use by up to 80% compared to conventional methods. Overall, our goal is to improve energy efficiency – measured as total energy per ton of production – by 20% by 2030 compared to 2020.

The takeaway: Technology can do a lot to make the world more sustainable, and industry can provide crucial momentum. But technology and science alone aren’t enough, of course. Without political will and global cooperation, climate action will stall. Still, it’s reassuring to know that mutirão – the collective effort – rests on a solid high-tech foundation.

And right now is the perfect opportunity to discuss these issues intensively: During “Urban October”, UN-Habitat, the United Nations program for human settlements, invites us to develop new perspectives on urban life and examine both the challenges and opportunities of urbanization.

Cities in Transition

Why is this relevant? More than half of the world's population lives in cities. And by 2050, according to the UN, it will be nearly 70 percent – that's about 2.4 billion more people than today. To handle this growth, approximately 60 percent of urban infrastructure still needs to be built: housing, transportation networks, energy systems, water pipes. But the city of the future needs to be not only functional, but also sustainable, resilient, and livable.

This isn't just about construction measures – social, ecological, and technological aspects must also be considered. How do we succeed in making cities inclusive? How can they respond to climate change, use resources efficiently, and simultaneously offer quality of life?

New Concepts for Urban Spaces

Future-oriented urban development means responsibly managing limited resources, whether space, energy, or materials. This approach leads to exciting concepts that focus on ecological construction methods and intelligent use of existing structures.

For example, there are pilot projects where abandoned industrial buildings and construction ruins are given new life. By not tearing them down but continuing to use the energy already invested in the original construction, the goal is to create the most positive energy balance possible. Such projects show how architecture and sustainability can go hand in hand and how livable spaces can emerge from seemingly unattractive locations.

Materials for the Future

The right materials are always crucial. Wood, for example, is considered a sustainable building material with many advantages: It creates a pleasant indoor climate, is recyclable, and enables short construction times. Plastics also play an important role, often less visible but all the more effective. They are lightweight, weather-resistant, and versatile. In the city of the future, they find applications in facades, insulation, smart sensors, infrastructure components like water and energy systems, or in new mobility concepts.

Intelligent urban construction will rely on hybrid solutions: materials like wood, concrete, and plastic will be combined to equally fulfill ecological, functional, and design requirements. This creates cost-effective buildings and infrastructure that are not only efficient and durable but can also flexibly respond to future requirements.

What such a holistic approach can look like is demonstrated, for example, by the flagship project STADTQUARTIER 2050 in Germany, which is supported by the federal government. In the city of Überlingen, a climate-neutral district has been created from new and energy-renovated buildings in a beautiful location on Lake Constance – with apartments that are also affordable for the socially disadvantaged. This also includes highly efficient building insulation using components from Covestro.

Visions Require Courage

"Urban October" is a valuable impulse for thinking about the future of our cities. But it's clear: It takes more than 31 days to redesign urban living spaces. It requires technologies, materials, and capital. And it requires visionary thinking, courage, and perseverance.

The Global Hunger Challenge

Approximately 670 million people live with hunger worldwide, and about 2 billion lack regular access to sufficient nutritious food. While these numbers might feel distant to many people in rich countries accustomed to 24/7 food access, our situation may be less secure than we think. For example, experts are warning that Germany could face food access challenges as irrigation water becomes scarcer.

At the same time, the Mediterranean region increasingly faces severe rain events that devastate crops. Europe, a densely populated continent, with its expectation of constant food abundance, may be more vulnerable than we care to admit.

The 2025 Global Food Policy Report confirms these concerns. According to their analysis, climate change will drive global commodity prices up by as much as 18 percent until 2050 compared to a no-climate-change scenario. This price increase could push an additional 78 million people into chronic hunger, with more than half of this increase occurring in Africa south of the Sahara.

We must rise to the challenge. The food system urgently needs to become more sustainable throughout and far beyond climate protection – even more so as global population will grow to an estimated 1.5 billion people by 2050, making it necessary to increase food production by 30 to 60 percent.

Soil and Water: Precious Resources Under Threat

We need to focus on two fundamental resources that are the base of our food security: soil and water. Their protection must be central to any solution we develop, whether high-tech or traditional, in developed or developing regions.

Globally, we're losing topsoil at alarming rates – some estimates suggest 24 billion tons annually. Once degraded, soil can take centuries to regenerate. Water scarcity presents an equally pressing challenge, with agriculture accounting for approximately 70 percent of global freshwater consumption. Managing this essential resource sustainably requires rethinking how we collect, store, distribute, and use water throughout our food systems.

Addressing these challenges requires integrating cutting-edge technology with reimagined traditional practices. Precision farming technologies for example can reduce water usage by up to 30 percent while improving yields. Equally important are innovations in regenerative agriculture that rebuild soil health while sequestering carbon.

In addition, climate adaptation is becoming increasingly crucial and offers opportunities. I witnessed how global warming is transforming traditional agricultural landscapes during my recent trip to Italy, where Chiquita has said it will be testing banana cultivation – a crop traditionally associated with tropical climates now finding potential in southern Europe due to rising temperatures. This represents a pragmatic adaptation approach: recognizing changing conditions and adjusting agricultural systems accordingly.

The Global Food Policy Report also emphasizes that offsetting increased hunger due to climate change could cost upward of 24 billion dollars annually, including investments in agricultural research, water provision, and other infrastructure.

All this underscores the need for innovative, cost-effective solutions that can be implemented at scale.

Materials Matter: Supporting Sustainable Food Systems

My office in Leverkusen is at Covestro, a global materials science company. What makes me happy to work here is that – among tackling many other issues – we develop and offer solutions that support sustainable food systems.

In water management for example, advanced irrigation systems using durable plastics can deliver precise amounts of water directly to plant roots, while biodegradable tree shelters with bio-based coatings help protect our vital forests from losing water. As for soil protection, biodegradable mulch films prevent weed growth and water evaporation. And special seed-coating materials help reduce pollution and improve yield – while also being fully biodegradable.

In order to extend the shelf life and reduce food waste, special coatings can be used which allow for paper packaging to protect against contamination while still being fully recyclable. Such approaches are especially valuable in regions with limited infrastructure, where up to 40 percent of food can be lost between harvest and consumption.

Hand in Hand: The Power of "AND"

The plastics industry is therefore part of the solution, which brings me to the “Hand in Hand” theme of World Food Day. This isn't about choosing between high-tech OR traditional approaches, developed OR developing regions, immediate needs OR long-term sustainability. It's about embracing the power of "AND" – recognizing that we need all solutions working in concert.

In the spirit of “AND,” Covestro employees are not only developing innovative product solutions – they are also helping to fight food insecurity around the world. In the Americas region, for example, my company launched the “10 for 10” initiative: for every volunteer hour logged by employees this year, Covestro is donating ten meals to those facing hunger through non-profit organizations.

On this World Food Day, while we commemorate the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s 80th birthday, I invite all of us to consider how we can contribute to more sustainable food systems. By working together, embracing the power of "AND" rather than "OR" we can indeed create better, more sustainable foods and a better future for generations to come.

Yet access to quality care remains limited for many. This is partly because insurance providers and self-paying patients face ever-increasing financial burdens. In OECD countries, for example, healthcare costs are projected to surge dramatically – from an average of seven percent of GDP in 2000 to twelve percent by 2040.

A further challenge emerges: As healthcare utilization increases, so does its environmental impact. The healthcare sector already generates more than four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, while hospitals worldwide produce an average of 20 kilograms of waste per patient daily.

The Core Healthcare Challenge

Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, health economists, and others working in healthcare tackle these individual problems every day. But behind them lies a more fundamental challenge: How can we reconcile these individually essential yet seemingly conflicting requirements? Is it truly possible to provide widespread access to high-quality care that is also cost-efficient and sustainable?

The World Health Summit 2025 in Berlin addresses these pressing questions. Here, high-ranking representatives from governments, international organizations, research and healthcare institutions, companies, alliances, and initiatives from around the world bring their collective expertise together.

Innovative Materials as Solutions

The good news: We don’t have to accept these problems as insurmountable. Innovative materials – such as those developed by Covestro – offer ways to improve all dimensions simultaneously.

Take accessibility: Medical products made from high-performance plastics are often particularly lightweight, providing logistical advantages and facilitating care delivery even in remote regions. Additionally, plastics for healthcare applications can be manufactured quickly and in large quantities – for example, during vaccination campaigns or pandemics. They also play a crucial role in the growing telemedicine market.

High-quality plastics also offer advantages in terms of cost efficiency: They enable mass production of medical devices, packaging, and disposable items at relatively low costs.

To ensure high quality in healthcare, innovative applications are essential. For example, medical plastics for precise diagnostic equipment or organ-like prosthetics. And 3D printing with plastics allows for customized solutions such as dental implants and orthoses – which is important for the trend toward personalized medicine.

High-performance materials like plastics also play a role in another development: the changing understanding of health. Here, they serve to manufacture increasingly popular wearables that enable proactive health management and wellness monitoring in everyday life – a paradigm shift from mere disease treatment to proactive health promotion.

To promote sustainability, intensive work is being done to produce plastics using non-fossil raw materials, which improves their ecological footprint. Additionally, they are increasingly being designed to be more easily reprocessed or recycled. And their typically low weight helps reduce material consumption and thus environmental impact throughout the entire lifecycle of medical products.

Holistic Thinking Instead of Either-Or

Thanks to material innovations, trade-off thinking is becoming obsolete in healthcare. Rather than choosing between accessibility, cost-efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability, we can pursue all these goals simultaneously through intelligent material solutions.

What we need is a holistic approach that considers the entire lifecycle of materials and products. The Health Summit, with its focus on "Taking Responsibility for Health in a Fragmenting World," provides the ideal platform to introduce this perspective into the global healthcare discussion.

The future belongs not to those who think in opposites, but to those who understand and utilize the complex interplay of all factors. Only by embracing this integrated approach can we create a healthcare system that truly serves both people and the planet.

This conflict isn’t new, but it’s becoming more intense and consequential. Energy security is increasingly fragile due to rising geopolitical tensions: Attacks on power grids and pipelines are on the rise, and regional dependencies are becoming more apparent.

Growing Imbalances

Energy poverty also remains a global issue: In 2024, around 750 million people – mostly in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America – still lacked access to electricity. Meanwhile, affordability is becoming a major concern in Europe, where energy prices are significantly higher than in other regions. This threatens key industries like chemicals and steel and has sparked calls to rethink the direction of the energy transition.

Sustainability shows the starkest contrasts between the U.S. and China. While the U.S. is relying more heavily on fossil fuels like oil and gas, China is the global forerunner in renewable energy – even as it continues to build new coal-fired power plants.

As a result, CO₂ emissions from energy are steadily increasing worldwide. And the effects of climate change are becoming more visible: 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded, bringing a wave of natural disasters.

Global Conference

How – or whether – these growing disparities in the energy system can be addressed was the focus of the “World Energy Week” in Panama. The annual conference, hosted in a different country each year, brought together representatives from over 100 nations for strategic dialogue and practical solutions in the energy sector.

And that’s exactly where the global community should focus: on the many technologies and ideas that can make energy cleaner, smarter, more affordable, and more secure. Innovation must be the trump card – especially since it often comes with clear economic benefits. According to industry organization IRENA, renewable energy could create between 30 and 38 million jobs worldwide by 2030.

Advanced technologies require advanced materials – such as high-performance plastics. They are key players in the energy transition, addressing all three aspects of the energy trilemma.

Take security of supply: Plastics form the backbone of modern infrastructure. Their light weight and durability make them ideal for components in power grids, wind turbines, solar panels, and battery systems. They also support decentralized solutions: in regions with unstable energy access, modular solar systems and mobile storage units made of plastic can provide local energy. Covestro, for example, has developed a new composite material for solar panel frames that can replace traditional aluminum. The benefits include better corrosion resistance and a lower carbon footprint during production.

Multiple Benefits

But plastics don’t just boost energy security – they also help make energy more affordable and equitable. They reduce production costs for solar lamps and water pumps, for example. Plastic tanks and pipes also make it easier to distribute biogas, hydrogen, or heat, especially in remote areas.

Another reason to favor plastics in energy solutions is their twofold environmental benefit. On the one hand, they’re increasingly produced using non-fossil raw materials and powered by renewable energy.

On the other hand, plastics help make energy- and climate-intensive sectors more sustainable. Countless buildings are better insulated with plastic panels, reducing the need for heating and cooling. In transportation, lightweight plastic components cut fuel use and emissions, while supporting the shift to electric vehicles.

Covestro is convinced that materials science – and plastics in particular – will play a vital role in bringing the three goals of the energy trilemma back into better balance.

As useful as they are at many individual hotspots, these clean-up events can just be the starting point – a necessary but insufficient response to a complex global challenge. When you physically pick up plastic waste, you quickly understand that you only treat the symptoms. But what really matters is tackling the problem at its roots. 

Systemic failures require coordinated solutions 

So, World Clean Up Day reminds us that local action and global coordination must work in tandem. Each piece of waste collected provides insights into systemic failures that require coordinated solutions. While we clean our local waterways, we must simultaneously push for the policy frameworks, business models, and technological innovations that will make such clean-ups eventually unnecessary.

The statistics paint a shocking picture: Approximately 11 million tons of plastic enter our oceans each year, and only about 9 percent of the plastics produced annually are recycled. 

It is a structural challenge for which a comprehensive transformation to a circular economy is needed. This encompasses every stage – from material selection and product design to use patterns, collection systems, and innovative recycling technologies. Waste management is essential but represents just one piece of this complex puzzle. We need to rethink how products are created, used, and reintegrated into material streams.

At Covestro, we're approaching this challenge through multiple avenues. By using alternative raw materials including plastic waste in our production processes, reducing fossil resource consumption while maintaining the performance of our high-value plastics. 

Through collaborative projects like Circular Foam, we're working on new ways to recycle materials previously considered unrecyclable. And we're working with partners across industry boundaries to redesign products with end-of-life in mind, recognizing that no single company can create circular systems alone.

Supportive framework necessary

However, such initiatives from business, while important, require a supportive global framework to achieve the scale and coordination necessary. That's why the envisaged Global Plastic Pollution Treaty is crucial. Despite recent setbacks, we hope the work resumes soon. Such a framework would help align national policies, drive investment in infrastructure, and create consistent standards across regions.

In this light, I invite you to join a World Clean Up Day event this weekend, but also to look beyond it. Consider how your observations, insights and new ideas could contribute to better solutions across the value chain. How might product design changes prevent the waste you're collecting? What infrastructure is missing in your community? How can businesses, governments, and citizens collaborate more effectively?

Clean-ups are a starting point for awareness and insight – but transforming those insights into coordinated global actions is where real change happens. Let's build the circular economy and global framework needed to ensure that future generations won't need to clean up our mistakes.

This perspective brings to mind the wisdom of design legend Jonathan Ive, who noted that "It's very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better." As we tackle plastic pollution globally, this insight reminds us that our goal isn't simply change for change's sake, but meaningful improvement that benefits society while protecting our environment.

As I am preparing myself to attend the INC-5.2 in Geneva this week, where negotiations for an International Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution continue, Mr. Ive’s observation perfectly captures the current challenge. Certain proposals aim to create serious change – banning materials, restricting substances, capping production – but will this lead to a better system? The real challenge is creating measures that lead to products and systems which solve plastic pollution and create better societies without causing more pollution or other sustainability disruptions.

I truly believe product design should be the centerpiece of this global treaty. Why? Because design decisions cascades up- and downstream throughout a product's entire lifecycle and represent our greatest leverage point for creating systemic change. I see how Article 5 on Product Design could establish frameworks to systematically evaluate products in local contexts, determining pollution causes and setting criteria for innovative solutions.

Defining a Positive Future: The Design Challenge

In my experience, good design begins with clearly defining the problem. "Plastic pollution" remains fundamentally undefined in treaty negotiations. As INC5.2 approaches, negotiators might consider focusing on measurable consensus areas like physical emissions and releases of plastic materials throughout their lifecycle, potentially providing immediate focus for collective actions.

During my career I've experienced how good design can take the lead. The key is making the deliberate choice to incorporate recycled content from the outset, which naturally drives market demand for recovered materials – an approach I believe is far more effective than imposing arbitrary production limits. By understanding and translating real user needs, design can create products that remain in use longer, resulting in reduction of waste. Science-based approaches like Plastics Europe's decision tree methodology could enable tailored solutions that respond to specific cultural and socioeconomic contexts, making products inherently more sustainable.

With 2.7 billion people lacking proper waste management, I recognize that infrastructure development is critical. True design thinking extends beyond individual items to entire systems – creating products that work for both consumers and recyclers, making material recovery valuable and efficient. Even advanced recycling facilities cannot process products not designed with end-of-life in mind. Great design balances the performance including sustainability requirements of the whole life cycle.

Product Safety: A Complementary Framework

As we develop design solutions for plastic pollution, safety remains paramount. Products must be both mechanically and chemically safe throughout their lifecycle. Chemical safety deserves attention, but not through the Global Treaty to end plastic pollution. We already have sophisticated frameworks like REACH and TSCA, while the Global Framework for Chemicals works to establish similar systems worldwide.
I see chemical safety and pollution prevention as parallel priorities that strengthen each other. When safety experts focus on their domain while product innovators address circularity, we create a powerful partnership. Both groups work toward the same goal: products that are environmentally sound and safe for consumers. This is about achieving both through specialized expertise working in harmony.

Covestro's Commitment to Innovation

At Covestro, innovation means concrete actions towards circularity. We're committed to investing 600 million Euros into recycling and bio-based alternatives by 2035. Our ambition to become fully circular and carbon neutral, drives everything we do.

Our partnership with Ausell in China exemplifies this approach in action. Together we are recycling polycarbonate from automotive headlights and transforming them into new components, creating a closed loop for this durable material. For Covestro this topic goes beyond recycling – it’s about proving that our high-quality recycled content can meet stringent performance requirements without any compromises.
Initiatives like this demonstrate that environmental stewardship and economic success go hand in hand. Through thoughtful design and strategic partnerships, they become mutually reinforcing forces that drive meaningful change.

What the Treaty Needs to Deliver

As I prepare for Geneva, I envision a Global Plastics Treaty that serves as a catalyst for innovation-driven solutions. It should establish design guidelines that recognize that different applications require different approaches, and it should help create market-based incentives for resource efficiency and circularity. The treaty should support national action plans with common reporting elements, allowing countries to implement solutions appropriate to their circumstances while maintaining global ambition.

Most importantly, it should focus on ending plastic pollution without duplicating existing chemical regulations. Overburdening the treaty with chemical management would dilute its core mission and scatter our collective resources.

INC5.2 represents the opportunity to finalize an agreement that unites stakeholders by focusing on areas where we already find common ground – like product design, waste management infrastructure, and circular economy principles.

In the words of designer William McDonough, "Design is the first signal of human intention." Let's make our intention clear: creating innovative products and systems that enhance lives without polluting the planet. Because offering creative alternatives to pollution will always be more transformative than simply restricting what exists today.

In 2024, August 1st still marked that date when the natural resources that our Earth's ecosystem can produce within a year are statistically exhausted. In other words: Humanity now requires 1.8 Earths for its lifestyle. Yet even the one beautiful Earth available to us is already bleeding out. And another number concerns me. The extraction and processing of material resources are responsible for over 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention the impacts on biodiversity and the environment.

Sustainability looks different. We conduct business, produce, and consume as if the Paris Climate Agreement – adopted with great fervor ten years ago – and other agreements to preserve our life foundations didn't exist. Instead of fewer coal power plants, more and more are being built around the globe. Global oil consumption continues to increase. And strategic raw materials like the rare earths coveted for electric mobility, energy transition, or electronic devices are facing a veritable demand boom.

Unchecked Resource Consumption

Overall, the UN Environment Program expects that by 2050, global consumption of natural resources will surge by another 60 percent compared to 2020. This goes hand in hand with an enormous increase in waste volume. Plastic waste alone is likely to nearly triple within four decades by 2060.

For me, this means: We must urgently steer consumption, production, and value creation toward more sustainable paths. A major lever is humanity's enormous energy consumption, which is expected to rise by another half by mid-century. Through efficiency gains and the transition to renewable sources, this development must be brought somewhat into alignment with environmental consequences.

The other lever is the circular economy. Reusing and recycling goods as much as possible is the royal road to resource conservation. But at the moment, the world has shifted into reverse gear here: The global circularity rate has dropped to just 6.9 percent – a decline of over two points compared to 2015. Yet good new technologies like chemical recycling and mass balance procedures are ready and available.

Chemical recycling – breaking down waste into its molecules and reassembling them – is absolutely needed as a complement to conventional mechanical recycling. Here, old products like plastics are shredded and melted, creating new material. However, this process is not suitable for many types of plastic.

Mass balancing, in turn, comes into play with mixtures of fossil and alternative raw materials such as recyclates or biomass. This method allows the proportion of sustainable raw materials to be allocated mathematically. The chemical and plastics industry in particular has high expectations for this approach as well.

What has been missing so far is primarily political momentum. We finally need solid legal foundations. So that industry can apply chemical recycling and mass balancing with legal certainty. So that clear standards are developed and certification systems come to market. And so that these forward-looking approaches reach consumers' minds.

First Steps in Brussels

At least the EU Commission seems to have recognized the signs of the times. In its recently presented action plan for chemistry, it at least acknowledges that chemical recycling can make an important contribution to reducing the EU's dependence on fossil raw materials for plastic production and upgrading old products.

And a first concrete step is already following: In the directive on single-use plastic products, which is currently being revised, Brussels wants to allow chemical recycling and mass balancing. A corresponding proposal for calculating the recycling content in single-use plastic beverage bottles is currently on the table.

But unfortunately, progress is only happening in baby steps: Act by act is being laboriously addressed individually. At least there is the prospect that the important Ecodesign Regulation for Sustainable Products – which applies to almost all physical goods – will also be expanded to include chemical recycling and mass balancing.

In any case, all levers should now be pulled quickly to boost recycling and move the circular economy forward again. So that Earth Overshoot Day will hopefully soon shift backward again.

Here, resilience doesn’t mean preserving the status quo. In our multipolar world, marked by growing instability, uncertainty, and aggression, we must focus on ongoing development – across all levels. Even when solutions are elusive. Even when the process becomes difficult or uncomfortable.

Challenges aren’t confined to just one domain –they ripple across politics, society, and industry. Politicians face discomfort for example when NATO had to decide to increase defense budgets. Socially, things can become uncomfortable when – as in Germany's debate about reintroducing military service – many face the question of whether they're willing to defend their country by force.

Industry, too, must confront discomfort. To be truly resilient, companies need backup plans – from securing diverse raw material sources to finding safer logistics routes, building new markets, ensuring cyber resilience, and reducing dependency on single partners. This isn’t just about agility – it also means rising costs and a shift in how we define business success.

Resilience Requires Collaboration

An often-uncomfortable truth: Resilience isn’t something one actor can achieve alone. Security, stability, and autonomy depend on collective action. Siloed thinking and isolated strategies won’t cut it. Industry must advocate for a functioning political system, strong social cohesion, scientific freedom, and a healthy environment. Conversely, political and social progress is only possible with a robust industrial backbone.

This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. We need a holistic understanding of resilience and security – one that includes defense capabilities, crisis preparedness, and societal transformation. We must understand resilience as an overall societal project. That means aligning economic and industrial policies around strategic, long-term goals: enhancing infrastructure, safeguarding supply chains, and fostering sectors essential to resilience. Politics must set the right conditions – without smothering innovation through micromanagement or overregulation.

Chemistry: The Invisible Infrastructure

This applies to all key areas that must be available, especially in times of crisis and conflict: from food to medicine to IT and energy. And behind them all is one often-overlooked force: the chemical and plastics industries. They are the foundation that enables everything else to function.

Consider food security. In crisis scenarios, plastic packaging becomes a lifeline. Easy to produce in large volumes, it protects food from contaminants, moisture, oxygen, and light – extending shelf life and ensuring supply.

In the energy sector, autonomy is becoming a strategic asset. Renewable sources are ideal, and technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, and battery storage all depend on plastics. These materials increase energy output while lowering production costs.

Defense? It too depends on high-performance plastics – in vehicles, aircraft, communications systems, and protective gear. These materials make military equipment lighter, stronger, more adaptable, and in many cases, more sustainable.

System Change Starts With Circular Thinking

However, resilience isn’t built by patching cracks – it demands systemic transformation. A shift to a circular economy isn’t just environmentally responsible; it’s economically and geopolitically strategic.

By closing material loops and recycling resources, we reduce dependency on volatile supply chains and price swings. Instead of relying on fossil-based inputs from unstable regions, circular systems favor regional materials like biomass, carbon dioxide, and waste.

The chemical industry – and Covestro in particular – are already pushing this transformation: embracing renewable raw materials, promoting clean energy, pioneering next-gen recycling tech, and forging global partnerships that benefit all involved. We need to scale up the transformation that the chemical industry is driving. That means fundamentally rethinking our systems. Even when it’s uncomfortable.

But let's start on a positive note: This year could mark the most significant advancement in chemicals management for quite some time. We're seeing revisions to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions aimed at protecting human health and the environment from harmful chemicals and waste. Additionally, nations are in the final stages of negotiating "an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution [...] based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic," as stated in a groundbreaking UN Environment Assembly resolution from three years ago. In essence, the world is moving toward a "Global Plastic Treaty" – urgently needed given the millions of tons of plastic waste entering our environment each year.

Negotiations must not be overloaded

However, this treaty risks becoming overloaded, attempting to address "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (to borrow the title of a popular film). When I see efforts to combine waste management with production reductions and chemicals regulation – not to mention financing and resource allocation – I seriously doubt whether the negotiations resuming this August in Geneva, Switzerland are on a promising path.

Yet there remains hope for effective chemicals management through another significant instrument: the Global Framework on Chemicals, established under the UN Environment Programme in 2023. This initiative unites governments, businesses, NGOs, and scientists to develop regulatory systems in each country that ensure the safe lifecycle of chemicals, particularly their use in materials and products such as plastics.

The problem is that the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations are targeting similar objectives. This creates redundancy, and in my view, when it comes to regulating chemicals, the Global Framework should take precedence. I sincerely hope that the first round of concrete discussions on implementing this framework, beginning this week in Punta del Este, Uruguay, will be successful.

The meeting focusses on establishing essential prerequisites for incorporating the framework's objectives into national legislation. This requires coordination on fundamentals – criteria, methods, and data – all founded on sound science and robust risk management. What's also needed is an open exchange about effective practices and impactful measures.

The chemical industry is prepared to fulfill its responsibilities and contribute meaningfully. The sector has offered to provide access to product safety and sustainability data and to enhance product portfolios with sustainable solutions. It has also committed to supporting thirty countries in implementing effective chemical management systems. While thirty national systems might not sound ambitious, given the complexity and resource requirements, these commitments represent concrete progress and aim to establish best practices.

Intelligently coordinate different initiatives

The path forward lies in intelligently coordinating these initiatives – or to return to the juggling metaphor: placing the balls in the right baskets after the show so they're ready for their next use. Recognizing the complementary nature of the Global Framework on Chemicals and the Global Plastics Treaty would be an important first step toward implementing effective chemicals management, particularly regarding their use in plastics.

As experts and negotiators engage in discussions in Uruguay and later in Switzerland, I hope the prevailing attitude will be one of pragmatism and action. The ultimate measure of success isn't crafting a perfect treaty – it's implementing effective chemical management that ensures the safe use of plastics while building the foundation for a circular economy and a world free from plastic pollution.

Copyright of header image: ©covestro

I especially enjoy traveling within Europe, for a very practical reason: It’s usually wonderfully uncomplicated. No long border checks, no tedious customs procedures – this has been, at least until now, a privilege for over 400 million people and countless businesses in 29 European countries.

We owe this to a bold step taken 40 years ago: the first of several Schengen Agreements, signed on June 14, 1985, in the small Moselle town with the same name by politicians from Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It came into force ten years later.

Free movement of people, goods, and services has since become a cornerstone of a united Europe, further developed through the European Single Market and the Eurozone.

Undermining the Idea of Unity

This vision is currently under serious threat – from within, through national self-interest, erosion of the rule of law, and restrictions on freedom of speech and the press; and from outside, through provocations, propaganda, and migration pressure. Reintroduced and repeatedly extended border controls – originally intended as temporary and a last resort – now risk undermining the Schengen idea. They could, in fact, destabilize the entire European integration project, with unforeseeable consequences for member states, as well as millions of people and many countries beyond.

What we need now is not less, but more Europe. An open-minded, diverse, and tolerant continent – especially in terms of a strong economy and industry. While other parts of the world are erecting tariff walls or dumping goods at rock-bottom prices, we must expand intra-European trade.

The Single Market is a clear success: it has increased the EU’s GDP by at least three to four percent and created 3.6 million jobs. According to the European Commission, completing the Single Market could even double these gains.

Strengthening the Single Market

It’s encouraging that the Commission has now presented a strategy to simplify, harmonize, and strengthen the market. The focus on the “terrible ten” – the most serious obstacles to the free movement of goods and services that must be urgently removed – signals a new pragmatism and sense of urgency in Brussels.

This is also evident in how “my” industry, the European chemical sector, is being addressed. It ranks second globally and, with over 650 billion euros in revenue, around 10 billion euros in research investment, and 1.2 million employees, is a key driver of value creation and prosperity.

However, the sector has long been losing international competitiveness – ironically, due in large part to everyday realities within the European framework. Excessive regulation with sometimes contradictory rules, lengthy procedures, and excessively high energy costs are holding us back. Now, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to present a special action plan for the chemical industry with structural reforms – this gives reason for hope.

But we must not place all the blame on Brussels. The Single Market, the Schengen Agreement, the entire EU – they are built on solidarity and can only thrive on a sense of community. We must not let that spirit fade further. Every member state, every citizen, and the business community must contribute – to complete our common European house: smart, resilient, and open.

The situation in the Gaza Strip and other humanitarian disasters show us almost daily: Hunger affects more than 700 million people today. What’s less well known, but no less dramatic is the fact that another 600 million people fall ill from over 200 kinds of foodborne diseases every year, from diarrhea to cancer. Unsafe food doesn’t just make you sick – it also undermines livelihoods and impedes socioeconomic development. This is what World Food Safety Day on June 7 makes us aware of.

What are the solutions to solve it? Perhaps it is quite close to Andy Weir’s protagonist Mark Watney in the science-fiction novel “The Martian” as he is looking for solutions to grow food and survive on Mars: 'So, in the face of overwhelming odds, I'm left with only one option: “I’m gonna have to science the s**t out of this.”

Science makes everyday life possible

For me as a Sci-Fi fan a true uplifting book, and in line with his year’s theme “Food Safety: Science in Action”. It reminds us that science – in the food sector as well as everywhere else – is not just something that happens in labs or policy rooms. It’s something we live, apply, and rely on every day – especially when it comes to the food we eat. Without science, we wouldn’t have the confidence to trade food across borders, store it safely, or feed growing populations.

International organizations like FAO and WHO play a critical role here – in evaluating food additives, pesticide residues, or microbiological risks. Their work forms the backbone of international food safety standards.

However, the multitude of challenges and crises and the urgent need for action must not tempt us to disregard thoroughness and conscientiousness. We must be careful not to let urgency become an excuse for recklessness in science. Research and innovation are essential—but they must always be methodical, evidence-based, and reliable. Otherwise, we might run the risk to solve one problem by creating another.

As someone working in the chemical industry for more than two decades, I see this firsthand. To give an example: At Covestro, we use bisphenol A (BPA) to produce polycarbonate, a highly robust and transparent plastic also used for food-safe applications like durable and reusable 5-gallon water barrels and transparent kitchen containers. They help preserving food quality, preventing contamination, and ensuring access to clean water and safe food—especially in regions where infrastructure is limited.

Safety is about managing risks

And yet, ingredients like BPA often face public skepticism. This is an expression of widespread chemophobia – the fear of chemicals – which leads many people to call for bans on products. But safety is not about eliminating materials, it’s about managing their exposure and risk. It’s about understanding what the data tells us, how materials and the products made from them are used, how exposure is controlled.

This is where science becomes action.

In my own life, I’ve seen how science shapes everything – from the safe use of chemicals and plastics I’m dealing with in my job, to the food I grow in my garden. It’s in the way I store water, the containers I trust, and the choices I make at the grocery store. It’s in the global standards that guide trade, and the local practices that keep kitchens safe.

So today, I want to celebrate the scientists, engineers, educators, and everyday citizens who put science into action. Whether you’re designing packaging, inspecting food, or simply washing your hands before cooking – you are part of the food safety system.

Because food safety is everyone’s business. And science is what makes it possible – perhaps one day on Mars but for certain here on our beautiful blue planet.

Copyright of all images: ©covestro

Global electric vehicle sales hit new records in all major markets during the first quarter of 2025. Looking at the entire year, sales are expected to exceed the 20 million mark – meaning that already more than a quarter of all vehicles sold are powered by electricity. Primarily driven by China, this trend is likely to intensify. If policy settings remain unchanged, the share of electric cars in overall vehicle sales is expected to rise above 40 percent by 2030.

However, there are significant regional differences as high prices for electric vehicles remain a barrier for many potential buyers. The political response varies: Some countries, like Germany under the new government, want to stimulate demand through direct purchase incentives. Others are increasingly focusing on indirect, structural support, such as expanding charging infrastructure.

This development marks a pivotal point. The dichotomic era, in which electric powertrain alone determined whether a vehicle was regarded as sustainable, is ending. As direct subsidies are gradually phased out, market forces can once again operate more freely. This makes the high acquisition costs of electric vehicles even more significant. Doubts surrounding the market viability of electric mobility are growing.

High-tech plastics make EVs more affordable

The new reality presents several challenges for the industry. No more subsidies means that electric vehicles must especially become more cost-effective and affordable through intelligent material and process innovations. High-tech plastics play a key role: They reduce weight and energy consumption, making driving cheaper.

The upside for manufacturers: Plastics also make production processes more efficient. Solutions that combine multiple functions in a single component, reducing complexity and costs, are particularly promising. Not to mention their tremendous design possibilities.

Still, cost efficiency is just one side of the coin. As the focus shifts beyond powertrains, other sustainability aspects also take center stage. Recyclable and circular materials become essential − not just for environmental reasons, but also for economic ones. Mono-material designs, such as in vehicle interiors or headlights made from a single type of plastic, significantly simplify recycling processes. This eliminates the need for complex sorting and separation of plastics at the end of life.

Lightweight, durable materials also improve the overall footprint throughout use and the entire lifecycle. High-tech plastics, as developed and offered by Covestro, thus become a crucial success factor.

The transition from subsidy-driven to market-driven e-mobility could turn out to be a fortunate opportunity. It forces the industry to combine sustainability with economic viability. The result: innovations that make electric vehicles not just more environmentally friendly but also more affordable. A development that could pave e-mobility's way into the mass market. The next status report will be eagerly anticipated.

Environmental pollution, resource exploitation, climate change – to get this triple crisis under control, the world urgently needs to shift completely to a circular economy and, above all, increase recycling. Yet the opposite is happening. The global circularity rate of used resources keeps declining – currently at just 6.9 percent, according to the Circularity Gap Report 2025. For comparison: in 2023, the rate was 7.2 percent, while in 2018, it was as high as 9.1 percent.

The circular economy is thus trending downward and needs to be pushed much harder than before. However, there are some bright spots. The digital product passport, for instance, set to be introduced in the European Union from 2027. It's like an individual business card made of bits and bytes, containing information about products' origin, composition, sustainability, and environmental impact.

This allows each product to be tracked throughout its entire lifecycle, which could give circularity an enormous boost. The new system will be introduced gradually across different industries in the EU. Batteries will lead the way, with the virtual passport becoming mandatory from 2027.

Data Ecosystem for Chemistry

The chemical industry sees great opportunities here too. As a basic materials industry with high resource consumption and significant greenhouse gas emissions, it not only has the responsibility but also the innovative power to develop new ways in recycling and material circularity.

The industry has already embraced digitalization's potential. Several companies, including Covestro, are working on a standardizable digital product passport for the chemical industry through the Chem-X project. This initiative, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, aims to create an interoperable data ecosystem that enables the exchange of product and recycling information within the industry and horizontally with other consumer industries, including the recycling sector.

This system aims to promote open and transparent communication, supporting both legally mandatory and commercial processes. At its core is the development of open-source data models that serve as the foundation for data exchange and meet the requirements of digital product passports both in Europe and globally.

The industry hopes this will provide significant momentum. After all, the circular economy in chemicals isn't yet where it needs to be. Globally, only nine percent of annually produced plastics are recycled, while 22 percent of plastic waste is improperly disposed of.

Seizing Circular Economy Opportunities

The transition to a circular economy isn't just environmentally crucial – it also offers enormous opportunities. Studies suggest it could notably increase Europe's GDP by 2030 while creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. For the chemical and plastics industry, circularity particularly means new business models and value creation opportunities through innovative recycling technologies and sustainable product solutions.

While the path to a circular economy may be challenging, it's non-negotiable. With innovative digital solutions, the chemical industry has important tools to shape this transition successfully. The time to act is now – so that the next Circularity Gap Report finally shows improvement.

The EU, whose achievements we celebrate on Europe Day, May 9, is needed not only as a haven of understanding, stability, and predictability. It stands as a prime example of how openness and interconnection drive prosperity. The European single market has grown by eight to nine percent on average over its three decades. In practical terms: Without the EU, GDP per capita would be notably lower across member states – four percent less in France, five percent in Germany, and nearly eight percent in the Netherlands.

Thinking Without Borders

A Europe without borders means much more than the free exchange of goods and services. For me, our community of 27 represents thinking without limitations. It stands for openness to new ideas and experiences, the joy of exchange and discussion, and the freedom of research and teaching. These achievements need protecting, especially when science and established media face mounting challenges elsewhere, along with climate and environmental protection.

This brings me from praising the European Union to addressing how it must evolve – precisely in these areas: sustainability, openness, and innovation. The future belongs to them!

Sustainability: 2024, as the warmest year on record, has starkly reminded us that climate change represents one of humanity's greatest threats – not least economically. If we don't act now, we'll pay a far higher price later. Studies suggest the global economy could suffer income losses of 19 percent by 2050 due to climate change – six times more than the cost of limiting global warming to two degrees.

The EU should therefore develop into a hub for what will become increasingly sought after: green technologies and products. With the Clean Industrial Deal, the EU Commission, after initial over-enthusiasm, is now on the right track – combining climate neutrality goals with increased competitiveness and support for strong industry.

Creating an Industry-Friendly Environment

Strengthening the industrial base is urgently needed. In the chemical sector alone – the EU's fourth-largest industry – over eleven million tons of production capacity had to be discontinued in the past two years, partly due to numerous unfavorable conditions. Yet the chemical and plastics industry is crucial for intelligent sustainability solutions.

This brings me to innovation. Here too, the Commission has recognized the signs of the times, aiming to strengthen research in Europe with another half billion euros and attract international scientists. Hopefully, they will find an intellectual climate where oversimplifying populism, us-versus-them thinking, and susceptibility to autocracy don't continue to spread.

Standing out as a think tank and maintaining course toward sustainability – that's already significant progress. With the right economic policy adjustments – lower energy prices, less bureaucracy and micromanagement, more international partnerships – Europe's industrial future looks promising.

Why is mass balancing so important for Covestro and the industry? 

Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer: If we want to move away from fossil resources and truly become circular, we need a system that works within our existing infrastructure. That’s what mass balancing offers. It allows us to gradually integrate mass balance raw materials, bio-based or recycled materials are integrated in our supply chain production chain — without having to redesign our plants from scratch. Also, it works the same way for products with a reduced carbon footprint, for example so called ‘blue’ products, that benefit from carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Here’s the key point: mass balancing tracks the amount of alternative raw materials used in production and reliably attributes them to final products. So, as materials are consumed during production, we can still account for how much attributed content is included.

This method helps the entire value chain — suppliers, manufacturers, and customers — taking real, measurable steps toward circularity. That’s why we’re pushing for a unified, industry-wide approach. Our new position paper breaks down how mass balancing works and what’s needed to make it the global standard. Plus, it addresses further stakeholder groups who are crucial: policy and decision makers and the general public. We don't just need the technical explanation, but also a general understanding of the topic. That's because we need to inform, explain and guide.

How is this approach already helping Covestro’s business?

Sucheta Govil: We’re already seeing success with our CQ (Circular Intelligence) label. These products represent at least 25 to 90 percent alternative, non-fossil raw materials, either as components or through mass balance methodology. They help customers reduce carbon emissions, utilize waste, and improve their Scope 3 footprint. This creates a strong business case: we’re offering innovative, low-footprint materials that align with our customers’ own sustainability goals, without large investments.

But to scale this further, we need more than just good products. We need a shared understanding of how to measure and communicate these benefits — across industries and regions. That’s why our position paper is so important: it’s about creating clarity, transparency, and trust.

What makes the approach from Covestro to mass balancing credible and trustworthy?

Andreas Binder, Head of Sustainability Transformation & Business Building: Transparency is non-negotiable. We work with globally recognized certifications like ISCC PLUS and regularly undergo independent audits. More importantly, we ensure chemical connectivity — meaning that only the raw materials that actually go through our chemical processes are counted in the product's attributed content.

This isn’t just about tracking numbers — it’s about integrity. Chemical connectivity makes sure we don’t overstate our sustainability claims. When we say a product has attributed alternative raw material content, we can prove it, both scientifically and operationally.

This is why this position paper is necessary for us: to explain the use for various stakeholder groups – those who advocate this from governmental perspective, but also for our customers and partners. Here, the outline is: how can we add value for the entire value chain, because only then we can make money with sustainable solutions. That is by the way what we see many regulators are requesting.

How does this approach create value for customers — and for Covestro?

Mass balancing isn’t just a technical solution — it’s a business enabler. Our customers are under pressure to decarbonize and reduce their environmental footprint. We help them do that with verified, lower-impact materials that perform just like their fossil-based counterparts. This requires neither investments nor technical modifications and with implementing ISCC PLUS procedures they can reliably prove their claims.

We’re also working across the value chain to explain this better. Our goal is to show how mass balancing helps everyone — from policymakers and manufacturers to end consumers — contribute to a more sustainable, a more circular economy. The more clearly we can communicate this, the more impact we can have together.

And would you wish for looking at the next steps?

Sucheta Govil: The way to a circular economy is a marathon, we stated this several times. It is also complex, if we look at making more sustainable products, using more sustainable technologies. We sometimes need to take the time and explain this to our stakeholder groups. This is why we created the position paper: to provide a clear rationale, show the shared benefits, and drive a broader shift. Because when we align across industries, we can move faster — and further — toward a sustainable future. Use it to enhance the dialogue between our customers and us!

Here you can find more information in our position paper.

Copyright of all images: © Covestro

Where do the ideas come from that bring positive progress and change our future? Often from the laboratory. Frequently from long, quiet contemplation. Or through the swarm intelligence of many. And sometimes from an individual's flash of insight, while jogging, having dinner, or in countless other everyday situations.

Yet regardless of their origin, these pivotal moments share a common thread: all transformative changes stem from the desire to approach things differently, to rethink possibilities. This stems from an intrinsic drive, a creative force. World Creativity and Innovation Day on April 21 specifically highlights this connection.

The Corporate Need for Creative Minds

Creativity is increasingly becoming a strategic success factor for companies. It's a key competency that all employees should awaken within themselves. Creative abilities enable people to handle change and to embark on new paths together in an increasingly complex and dynamic work environment.

Creative, unconventional thinking helps actively shape innovation – in all areas and regardless of role or function. Covestro believes that in its organization "Everyone is an innovator."

The company actively fosters creative thinking through various initiatives: training programs, open collaboration spaces, and Expedition C – an internal learning platform focused on contemporary topics that emphasize creativity and collaboration.

Cultivating Mental Strength

Yet, exceptional creativity requires more than curiosity and expertise. Breakthrough ideas and solutions demand mental resilience – a balanced mind. Research indicates that relaxation triggers alpha waves, the neural foundation for creative processes. When individuals can effectively manage stress rather than succumb to it, their capacity for novel connections and innovative solutions expands.

Covestro incorporates this insight into its practices. Through Corporate Health Management, employees learn techniques for effective stress management and mental conditioning, creating space for innovation even during periods of transformation and high workload.

The Convergence of Creativity and Science

At Covestro, creativity isn't left to chance but integrated into a strategic innovation framework inside and outside its research and innovation functions. The "Open Innovation Platform" channels external perspectives through partnerships with startups and universities, enabling Covestro to blend creative thinking with scientific excellence.

Giving free rein to imagination and maximizing creative potential – this is the winning formula for transforming companies into the pioneers needed for our complex present and challenging future. World Creativity and Innovation Day shouldn't be a single annual event but a daily celebration in both business and society.

On the other hand, a sluggishness has taken hold in the energy system, throwing the energy policy triangle off balance. At the moment, it consists of a pronounced hypotenuse of “environmental compatibility”, while the legs of “supply security” and “economic efficiency” remain noticeably short.

I see an imbalance here that harms energy-intensive industries like the chemical sector. Take supply security: The sector is now, and even more so in the future, dependent on the reliable provision of large quantities of climate-friendly produced electricity to energize processes and generate process heat in a climate-neutral way.

But uncertainties aren’t just looming on the horizon tomorrow or the day after. Even today, the sector is facing an existential crisis due to internationally non-competitive energy prices: Electricity in Germany is up to five times, and gas even up to seven times more expensive than at competing locations in other countries. My idea of economic efficiency is quite different.

Integrated electricity market design

It's high time to realign the energy triangle. The federal elections in Germany can and must be the catalyst for this. What is needed is a new, sustainable overarching concept in energy and climate policy. An integrated electricity market design is required to quickly advance the expansion of grids, storage, and reserve power plants. Additionally, renewables need to be better integrated into the electricity system, and smart reforms in grid fees must be initiated. This is crucial because the chemical industry, in particular, can only very limitedly diversify its production.

And the affordable supply of (sustainable) raw materials such as hydrogen, biomass, recycled materials, and CO₂ must also be ensured. This requires, among other things, a convincing strategy for the storage and use of CO₂ – many of Germany’s European neighbors are already setting precedents in this area.

CO₂ price as a control element

Above all, the transformation must be as efficient and cost-effective as possible. In my view, the best way to achieve this is through a technology-neutral central control element: a uniform CO₂ price within the framework of the European Emissions Trading System. This approach would help achieve climate neutrality and the energy transition at the lowest CO₂ avoidance costs, based on market economy principles.

It will certainly take some time for fundamental reforms like these to take effect. Until then, the competitiveness of the industry must not be allowed to erode further. In the short term, action must be taken where the pressure is greatest, but also where the possibilities are significant: in electricity costs. There are many sensible proposals on the table. For example, capping transmission grid fees through temporary cross-financing from the federal budget. Or permanently reducing the electricity tax to the European minimum.

The next federal government must act decisively to preserve and strengthen the industry. Because without a strong industry, not only growth and prosperity are at risk. Without it, Germany’s goal of climate neutrality cannot be achieved. And that, in turn, is essential for competitive reasons. Because renewable energies and sustainable future technologies are the future. And Germany should make its know-how in this area an export hit.

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To prevent vague fears from taking hold, we need to broaden our understanding of security and develop a comprehensive strategy for societal resilience. That's why I'm pleased to see that the Munich Security Conference, which I'm attending, is addressing not only geopolitical issues but also social and environmental concerns such as "democratic resilience" and climate security.

In our fragile world, security goes far beyond preparing for military conflicts, countering hybrid threats, or fighting crime. It also means rebuilding sustainable ecosystems and fostering more inclusive societies. These issues are still too often considered in isolation rather than as part of a holistic approach.

Sustainable Growth: The Foundation of Stability

But there's more to it than that. A resilient nation and a functioning global system must be built on sustainable growth and prosperity. This is where a strong industrial sector becomes crucial. In my view, it forms the bedrock of political autonomy, environmental preservation, climate change mitigation, and a society that can withstand stress.

A strong industry is a cornerstone of the German and European economies. It includes the chemical sector which employs 480,000 people and generates 225 billion euros in revenue. Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and plastics drive innovation and are the starting point for countless everyday products. And they form the backbone that keeps countries like ours running.

The COVID-19 crisis has shown us all how vital the pharmaceutical industry is to our society. Many other examples are easy to find. Take critical infrastructure: The data and power cables connecting Germany to the world only withstand harsh ocean conditions thanks to plastics. Or consider economic self-sufficiency: As a leading exporter, Germany relies on secure shipping routes. Without paints and coatings from the chemical industry, cargo ships would be less durable and less efficient.

Now I'm not here to sing the praises of "my" industry. Rather, I want to use it as an example to emphasize a crucial point: To remain strong and help shape the future, Germany's industrial base must not only be maintained but strengthened. At the moment, however, it's dangerously eroding.

To reverse this trend, many good proposals have been put forward. These include reducing bureaucracy, energy costs, and taxes; expanding transportation infrastructure, digitalization, education, and European integration; and promoting future technologies and the potential of all people. The next federal government must take these points to heart and implement them consistently.

The key to all of this is greater openness and cooperation across the board. The "Operation Plan Germany" of the German Bundeswehr from 2023, for example – to tie this back to the Security Conference – shows how politics, society, and the economy can meaningfully interlock in case of defense.

We should make this collaborative approach the norm. Only then can we fully harness the potential of industry to create a sustainable, prosperous, and resilient future.

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Wang: We’ve been working with Ausell on a successful recycling project since 2020. This initiative has allowed us to annually recycle a significant amount of polycarbonate materials, transforming them into high-performance post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials that find new applications in electronics, home appliances and automotive industries.

Our partnership has provided us with extensive expertise and experience in PCR solutions, including product and application development and quality control. This solid foundation allows us to deepen our partnership with Ausell, specifically focusing on recycling plastics from end-of-life vehicles.

Xia: Ausell was one of the early players in polycarbonate recycling in China, which is now the world’s largest auto market. Covestro, as the inventor of polycarbonate, aims to be fully circular and has a strong presence in China – this makes us ideal partners in advancing plastics recycling from end-of-life vehicles. We believe this collaboration can accelerate recycling in the auto industry, and there is significant demand for such recycled products from the auto industry.

What is the current state of car-to-car plastic recycling in China?

Xia: With China’s continued growth as the largest auto market, the number of end-of-life vehicles is rising each year – from around 4.6 million vehicles scrapped per government regulations in 2023 to an estimated 7 million in 2024, driven by the government initiatives encouraging the replacement of older vehicles. By 2027, these scrapped vehicles are expected to generate 2.3 million tons of plastic waste annually, providing a stable source for recycling initiatives like ours.

However, car-to-car plastic recycling in China is still in its early stages, facing challenges in efficient collection, sorting and cleaning, as well as in integrating recycled materials into new car components.

Wang: With China’s leadership in automotive manufacturing and its commitment to sustainability, the country is expected to follow Europe’s lead in introducing stricter regulations for end-of-life vehicles, including requirements for recycled content in new cars. We believe demand for such products will grow, driven not only by these potential regulatory changes but also by automotive OEMs’ own sustainability goals. In fact, we’re seeing OEMs increasingly work with value chain partners to explore low-carbon and circular materials, aiming to achieve their sustainability targets.

What are the main obstacles to scaling up this new initiative?

Wang: As Mr. Xia mentioned, efficient recycling is certainly a challenge, along with the high cost of PCR materials. We need more like-minded partners to join forces in building a robust market that all partners in the value chain—especially car OEMs—are committed to and can benefit from. I believe our partnership will play a crucial role in accelerating development by advancing recycling technologies and finding practical applications for recycled automotive plastics. This collaboration is a promising step toward a sustainable automotive value chain in China.

Why start with headlamps?

Xia: Plastics are used in various parts of cars, but headlamps are typically made entirely from polycarbonate as a mono-material, making them highly valuable from a recycling and reuse point of view.

How will this initiative work?

Wang: Ausell will handle the collection, sorting and shredding of polycarbonate headlamps, then clean and pelletize them before sending them to Covestro. Covestro will process them into high-quality PCR materials for various automotive engineering applications.

What would you like to achieve out of this strengthened partnership?

Wang: Through our collaboration with Ausell, Covestro aims to gain valuable insights and practical experience to further support the automotive industry’s green transition. This partnership will help us drive greater adoption of circular materials, ultimately facilitating a more sustainable approach across the automotive value chain.

Xia: This initiative brings together a full spectrum of value chain players—from end-of-life vehicle recyclers and dismantling companies to shredding and cleaning specialists, compounders, automotive parts suppliers, and even OEMs. United under China’s dual-carbon goals of achieving peak emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, we’re building a new business model that supports low-carbon development with full traceability for recycled materials.

Dear Guido, why is Covestro so interested in closed loops in the automotive industry?

"Our main goal is to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of a closed-loop system for plastics in the automotive industry, thereby making the sector more sustainable. Together with partners from the entire value chain - from automotive manufacturers to recycling companies - we aim to identify challenges and develop potential solutions. This should result in recommendations for political measures and industry standards in relation to car-to-car recycling."

Which specific plastics and applications are currently in focus?

"We are currently focusing on various processes: For example, through mechanical recycling of car headlights, we recover post-consumer recycled (PCR) polycarbonate, which we use in polycarbonate and polycarbonate blends that meet stringent automotive requirements. Our customers then use these to manufacture new vehicle components. Additionally - and this is a completely new approach - we are working with partners on the chemical recycling of old tires. In doing so, we recover certain raw materials that can be turned back into optically high-quality polycarbonates for headlights."

How exactly does it work with car headlights? How are they turned back into new material?

"If we stay with the example of mechanical recycling, it works as follows: First, the old headlights are removed from cars that are to be scrapped, and the parts such as lens, housing or cover lens, which are entirely or predominantly made of polycarbonate (PC), are separated. These plastic parts are then forwarded to a recycling company like Ausell, with whom we recently expanded our collaboration.

At Ausell, the polycarbonate is processed. The plastic components are first stripped of any coatings, thoroughly washed, mechanically recycled by being shredded, and then processed into high-quality plastic granulate. This recycled material then reaches us and is blended with new material in a process called compounding to achieve the desired properties for the end product. Typically, we offer products with 35 percent or 50 percent recycled content for the automotive industry.

This 'compound' – a type of polycarbonate granulate with recycled content – is then delivered to automotive suppliers or OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)."

Why is car-to-car recycling currently a hot topic? Couldn't the materials to be recycled also come from other sources?

"A major advantage of car-to-car recycling is that we can access a relatively pure source of plastic material as it comes directly from end-of-life vehicles. Unlike mixed waste streams, which are often difficult to recycle, we are dealing with a clearly defined type of plastic here, making the process more efficient. These plastics will therefore definitely not become waste that ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Instead, we reuse them as raw materials, thereby reducing the need for new fossil raw materials and lowering overall CO² emissions, as fewer new plastics need to be produced.

Additionally, new political regulations are further increasing the relevance of recycling technologies. The new EU guidelines are really ambitious: in the future, a quarter of the plastics in new cars should be made from recycled materials, and 25% of this should come directly from end-of-life vehicles. This clearly shows how important car-to-car recycling will be in the future.

Collaborations like those with Neste and Borealis for the chemical recycling of old tires or the recently expanded partnership with Ausell for the mechanical recycling of car headlights demonstrate that we at Covestro can and want to make a significant contribution. Our goal is to enable automotive manufacturers to comply with the new EU regulations. Ultimately, it's about closing loops, significantly reducing the consumption of fossil raw materials and their carbon footprint – both the right political framework and innovative materials and technologies like ours are essential for this."

Why Collaboration Matters

The chemical industry is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, and transitioning to a circular economy is no small feat. What has become abundantly clear is that no single company can achieve this alone. Collaboration and partnership aren’t just nice-to-have; they are essential drivers of progress.

Covestro’s commitment to becoming fully circular aligns perfectly with the GIC's mission. By working together with competitors, partners, and stakeholders across industries, we are moving from ambition to action. This is not just about addressing today’s challenges; it’s about building a foundation for a more sustainable future.

Leading Change Through Circular Plastics

One example I’m particularly proud of is the Automotive Circular Plastics project. This initiative addresses a critical challenge in the automotive sector: the integration of circular plastics. At Covestro, we’ve played a key role in identifying technological needs, outlining challenges, and forming partnerships across the value chain.

The project is more than just a theoretical exercise; it’s a practical effort to pilot innovative recycling solutions. By next year, we aim to establish a sustainable value chain for automotive plastics. The road is not without obstacles, including regulatory pressures and the limited availability of suitable waste streams, but I firmly believe that through collaboration and innovation, these barriers can be overcome.

Building Momentum

Looking ahead, I am filled with optimism. The industry is gaining momentum, and I see the results of our efforts coming to life. Success will mean scaling up pilot projects to an industrial level, generating the data needed to build viable business cases, and, most importantly, creating real impact.

At the same time, the growth of GIC itself is a promising sign of what’s to come. As more companies join the coalition, the collective power of our industry to drive meaningful change becomes even stronger.

A Future We Build Together

Sustainability is a shared responsibility, and our future depends on collaboration. My work at Covestro and with the GIC is driven by the belief that when we come together—sharing knowledge, resources, and ambitions—we can achieve far more than any one company could alone.

I’m inspired by what we’ve accomplished so far, but this is just the beginning. The journey toward circularity and net-zero emissions is long, but it’s one we must take, step by step, together. At Covestro, we remain fully committed to leading this transformation—not just for our industry but for the world we all share.

Currently, only a third of plastic waste from German households is recycled, and only around eight percent of all plastics come from recycled materials.

I am convinced that there is enormous potential here. I therefore welcome the introduction of the long-prepared National Circular Economy Strategy for Germany.

The openness towards innovative technologies is particularly positive. Chemical recycling in particular, which can significantly increase the recycling rate of plastics, deserves greater attention and support.

At Covestro, we are involved in forward-looking international collaborations in this field. Our goal is to establish the circular economy as a global guiding principle and to position Germany as an 'innovation center for green technologies'.

There were also glaring discrepancies at the climate summit in Azerbaijan. Here, higher financing commitments were made for poorer countries – but they remained far below their demands. New resolutions to move away from fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions did not even make it into the final declaration, which was again achieved with great difficulty. And this in a year in which emissions and global warming are once again reaching negative records. A setback that makes me doubt the sense of such mammoth events.

Now eyes and hopes are focused on the third major conference, which began on Monday in South Korea. There, the international community is struggling to reach an agreement that is intended to put a stop to the alarming pollution of the environment by plastics. This, too, is a problem of the utmost urgency. Plastic waste amounting to 22 million tons ends up in nature every year – it lines roads, blocks rivers, disfigures beaches, floats as gigantic patches on the world's oceans, threatens animals and ends up in the food chain. There is a threat of even greater adversity for the future: Without further countermeasures, the amount of waste in the oceans alone could double by 2060.

Excessive claims are dangerous

One thing is clear: There is a gigantic pressure to act. The problem must finally be solved, the evil must be tackled at the root. Therefore, the upcoming fifth and decisive round of negotiations ("INC-5") must be a success. But here, too, the outlook is rather gloomy. Because in the metropolis of Busan, there are various demands on the table that, for me, go far beyond the mark and jeopardize the success of the negotiations.

For example, chemicals needed for the production of plastics should be assessed in the future according to their abstract hazard potential instead of concrete risks to which nature and living beings can be exposed under realistic conditions. I think we need to keep a sense of proportion and leave the control chemicals where it belongs and is already sufficiently exercised: in the national regulatory systems such as REACH in the EU or TSCA in the USA, flanked by the Global Framework for Chemicals, which was launched in 2023.

My clear warning: A de-listing of chemicals would result in a de facto ban on many plastics. But what we need is less plastic waste – not less plastic. On the contrary, the material is absolutely crucial. I know it may sound paradoxical to many – but climate protection is not possible without, but only with plastics. After all, they are indispensable for making the large resource-intensive sectors – energy, industry, agriculture, transport, buildings – more sustainable and climate-neutral. To marginalize plastic would be to do humanity a disservice.

Making the circular economy a guiding principle

Of course, the chemical and plastics industries themselves are also part of the problem, as a good six percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by chemicals. The sector has therefore to move away from fossil resources. The oil age must give way to an era of renewable and recycled raw materials. In short, the circular economy should become the new global guiding principle. At Covestro, we are strongly committed to this and invest a lot in circularity. After all, it is the key to combating climate change, conserving resources, and preserving nature and the environment.

Therefore, this compelling concept belongs on the table everywhere, at the negotiations in Busan on plastic waste as well as at the follow-up conferences of Cali and Baku on biodiversity and climate protection. And something else should be taken to heart: It is high time for more pragmatism and willingness to compromise on all sides. This is the only way we can get what we really need: a global agreement against plastic pollution that does not deprive plastics of their raison d'être.

The circular economy is key to stop pollution

What matters most, in my opinion, is to comprehensively embrace the concept of the circular economy. An approach Covestro is consistently following. Preventing used plastics from becoming waste and ending up in the environment is key stopping pollution. This means designing products from the outset for optimal recycling and utilizing all kinds of recycling technologies, including chemical recycling.

And I need to address another crucial point. Looking at global population growth, prosperity and sustainability goals, the world is going to need more plastics – and not less, as some parties in the negotiations try to make belief, calling for production caps. The truth is, we can’t simply do without high quality polymers, neither today nor in the future.

Having spent many years in the polycarbonate business, I've seen firsthand the vital role plastics play in our lives: Without them, no electric car drives, no wind turbine turns, no smartphone works. The problem is not plastic itself, but how we handle it. It stems from an abundance of non-durable, non-recyclable products and inadequate waste management systems. These are the real issues we must address to combat plastic pollution effectively.

Negotiations must not be diluted

However, there is currently another strong trend I'm concerned about: the growing calls to create arbitrary lists to classify "chemicals of concern", regardless of actual exposure and risk. This poses a real threat to many materials such as polycarbonate, which require these substances, and to all the applications that rely on them. These proposals seem very exaggerated, and I fear they could dilute the proper focus of the negotiations: to prevent plastic pollution.

Moreover, the proposals are redundant. Because the risk management of chemicals for plastics is already comprehensively addressed elsewhere. There are many proven national chemical regulations such as REACH in the EU, TSCA in the USA,  the prioritized chemical evaluation & control framework in China and K-REACH in South Korea just to name a few, supported by the newly started Global Framework on Chemicals.

As I look forward to the intensive week ahead, I hope the Busan conference will concentrate on the essentials and quickly lead to a viable agreement. The challenge before us is significant, but so is the opportunity. It is up to all of us to create a future where plastics serve humanity without costing the Earth. The plastics industry and Covestro stand ready to work alongside governments, NGOs, scientists and communities to make this vision a reality.

And yet there is so much at stake. Above all, climate change has to remain at the top of the global agenda and, as a long-term threat of global proportions, must not be left behind the many acute crises and the tendency towards isolation and national egotism. The increasing weather extremes are having increasingly dire consequences – not only for the environment and the Earth system, but also for society and the economy.

For example, supply chains come to a standstill when, for example, water levels fall due to drought, such as in the Panama Canal, and migration pressure increases when, for example, heavy rain causes the arable land to continue to erode, especially in the global south.

Of course, all countermeasures come with immense costs - the central theme of the summit in Azerbaijan. But investments in climate protection must, on the one hand, be viewed as avoidance costs; because the consequences of inadequate action result in much higher bills in the future. On the other hand, the private sector in particular – which is becoming increasingly important for financing in times of tight public budgets – must be convinced to invest more in climate protection.

Innovation helps the climate

And that brings me to the role of the economy. In my opinion, the industry should make two things very clear. First: Technology is on our side in the fight against climate change, resource exploitation and environmental destruction. There are more and more innovative and inexpensive products, processes, and solutions here – from ultra-light plastics to high-performance batteries, from vertical farming to meat from plants. All supported by the power of artificial intelligence and enhanced by the concept of the circular economy.

And the second message to the financial community is that one can make money with climate protection. According to a study from last year, the experts at Roland Berger see greentech as an attractive growth market, the volume of which could more than double from five trillion to twelve trillion euros by 2030.

Most recently I became aware of what the economy has to offer in this area at ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi, the world's largest event for the energy industry. But it also became clear: Business can and must fill in to protect the climate in order to fill the gap left by politics. And to do that we must link arms. More intensive cooperation is the order of the day so that the transformation does not fizzle out but becomes a success. 

Chemical industry joins forces

On the one hand, this requires more collaboration within the large resource- and climate-intensive industries. The chemical sector – which accounts for 14 percent of global oil consumption – is leading the way here. For example, with the Global Impact Coalition, an association of CEOs of major companies. I represent Covestro in this alliance, which was launched around a year ago. One of our goals: to promote new market-oriented partnerships to expand low-carbon technology.

The best way to do this is to think outside the box and forge more cross-industry alliances. Because just like individual countries, none of the major areas that are fuelling climate change can achieve the transformation alone – neither the energy industry, as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, nor industry, agriculture, transport, and the building sector. 

At Covestro we live this idea of collaboration. And we are pleased about the win-win situations that arise, for example, through long-term direct supply contracts with green energy providers, through groundbreaking recycling cooperations with the automotive sector or through joint research projects with the waste industry. 

So, let's spread hope, let's whet the appetite for fossil-free, let's show what is possible - and why it is worth it. Because the following also applies to the climate (to draw a link to the USA in the era of change in the 1990s): It’s the economy, stupid.

At the same time, such visitor numbers highlight the downside of these major events. For they are always an immense challenge in terms of sustainability. They involve millions of travel movements, gigantic resource consumption, and huge amounts of waste. Whether the European Football Championship a few weeks ago, the recently concluded Tour de France, or the 2024 Olympics in Paris: they all have an impact on the environment, nature, and climate. For example, the last Summer Games in 2020 in Tokyo produced 2.7 million tons of CO₂. And at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, 1.6 million tons of the greenhouse gas were emitted just from the construction of seven new stadiums built in the desert sand.

On the other hand, sport is increasingly feeling the effects of climate change. Unreliable snowfall and overly mild temperatures threaten winter activities; heat and capricious weather conditions make life difficult for athletes and spectators in summer.

Trimming Sports for Net Zero

The mission of peace and understanding must therefore be complemented by the dimension of sustainability. And this is fortunately happening more and more. In 2018, the "Sports for Climate Action Framework" was launched under the auspices of the United Nations, with the International Olympic Committee in a leading role and the goal of achieving net-zero emissions in the sports sector by 2040.

Even more encouraging: it's not just announcements. While Tokyo 2020 had already placed an emphasis on sustainability, with podiums made from recycled plastic or medals from electronic waste, Paris aims to overshadow all previous Olympic Games in this regard.

The green catalog of measures is a "faster, higher, further" of a different kind: halving greenhouse gas emissions compared to the Games of the previous decade. Becoming carbon neutral for the first time. Using 100 percent renewable energy. Utilizing 95 percent existing or only temporarily constructed infrastructure. Reducing disposable tableware by 50 percent, doubling the amount of plant-based food – these are just some of the ambitious environmental goals.

Athletes as Sustainability Ambassadors

The concept of the circular economy is thus becoming increasingly anchored in sports as well, which pleases me immensely. For as the key to climate neutrality, resource conservation, and environmental protection, it should become a global guiding principle. And who could be better global ambassadors for this than the gymnasts and swimmers, the runners and ball artists with their millions of fans?

For the concept to work, however, business innovations such as climate-neutral plastics are also needed, for which there is demand throughout sports – from stadiums to equipment to functional clothing. Ultimately, we need all groups to build a circular future. Paris is leading the way with a meticulous master plan. From the city administration to environmental organizations and social associations to suppliers, everyone is contributing.

Events like the Olympics can provide impetus for shaping the future in all directions. For here are united the areas that must be transformed as a matter of priority, such as mobility, construction, and energy. My greatest wish in these days: that the Olympic idea of togetherness and understanding will endure beyond the 2024 summer of sports and become a beacon on the long road to a sustainable tomorrow.

Plastics Europe, as a leading association in the plastics industry, is a key partner for Covestro on the path to a circular economy. Through membership, Covestro can influence the shaping of industry standards and advance its vision of a fully circular economy. It is clear: Circular economy can only succeed in close cooperation with all partners along the value chain. This also means that we need clear standards that promote rather than hinder the development of new technologies. Many of these standards are set in Brussels. In this regard, cooperation with Plastics Europe is a vital component in jointly establishing the right framework conditions for the future of the circular economy.

A central topic in the discussion on the circular economy at the EU level is mass balances. They are an accounting approach to transparently track the use of recycled materials. Standardization is necessary to support chemical recycling and advance the circular economy. Companies like Covestro are ready to invest in this technology but require clear legal frameworks. However, we have been waiting for over 2.5 years for a simple implementing act to clarify legal provisions for the calculation method. This delay leads to frustration and hampers innovation. It is urgently needed that the EU speeds up and provides the necessary clarity to promote technological openness.
This is where associations like PlasticsEurope come into play. The association helps promote scientifically-based discussions and provides factual information. Especially in our times, when misinformation can spread quickly, fact-based approaches are indispensable. By providing solid scientific data, we support effective and science-based solutions.
Of course, we could also do this as Covestro alone. But as is often the case in life: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Industry associations like PlasticsEurope enable us to speak with one voice and thus gain more weight in the public eye and with political decision-makers. Through our participation, we can bring practical experience, educate about the positive properties of plastics, and help shape the regulatory framework to secure the future of our industry. Our goal is to show how diverse and important plastics are for the transition to a sustainable economy. Without plastics, no wind turbine turns, no electric car runs. We want to demonstrate this together within the association.

Three areas of action are essential for us as the board of PlasticEurope (Germany):

1. We must understand the circular economy across industries. It is a key issue for the entire industry. I pursue this with full conviction because Covestro's vision is to become fully circular. Germany and Europe should become leading regions for the circular economy.
2. Promoting technologies such as chemical recycling and CO₂ utilization is essential. We need a supportive political framework that gives innovations the space to reach market maturity. Also, to remain competitive.
3. We must advance the regulatory framework to enable a functioning circular economy and incentivize the transition to it. Companies need planning security.

Together with PlasticsEurope (Germany), we are working to make the plastics industry fit for the future. It is all the more important to meet regularly, exchange ideas, and discuss new ideas, such as at the member meeting in Leverkusen last week.

In memory of this moment, “Europe Day” is celebrated annually on May 9th. And looking back at more than 70 years of European ideas and unification, it can be said: the EU is a remarkable success in many ways. Peace, stability, legal certainty, and freedom of movement – these are achievements which are by no means self-evident and which we have to keep reminding ourselves of. Citizens enjoy comprehensive fundamental rights; employees have at least four weeks of annual leave; young people can study in any other EU country with the Erasmus program; the environmental standards are among the highest in the world.

The European project also includes a thick economic chapter. In the three decades of its existence, the internal market has ensured growth and prosperity: on average, according to a stocktaking by the European Commission, economic output grew by eight to nine percent during this time. This is not least thanks to the innovative strength of Europeans, which is also based on the diversity of their community.

Without the EU, the member states would be poorer

If the EU didn't exist, the gross domestic product per capita would be significantly lower in many member states, as economists calculated in 2023: in Germany, for example, the minus would be a good five percent, in France and Italy four percent each, and in Austria and the Netherlands even eight percent. But from counterfactual to reality: the 24 million companies in the single market recently (2022) achieved a GDP of 15.8 trillion euros – around five trillion euros more than in 2009 and around ten trillion more than in the year the market was founded in 1993. Strong sectors like the chemical and plastics industry, which ranks second globally, have been contributing to this.

When it comes to the word global, another factor should be highlighted: the EU accounts for almost 15 percent of worldwide GDP. Still. According to Statista, the share is likely to continue to decline in the coming years (as in the U.S., which is currently roughly on a par), while China continues to catch up in pole position. And that brings me to where the Europe story has its weak points. Because for too long it has been based on assumptions that are faltering or no longer exist: that the beneficial globalization continues in rule-based structures, that the EU has a reliable protector in the U.S., a cheap supplier in Russia and an insatiable buyer in China.

In the meantime, the People's Republic has blossomed into a gigantic competitor that no one can ignore and from which Europe can learn a lot, for example when it comes to speed, flexibility and consistent action. However, the entire world order is drifting into a tense, multipolar system with increasing struggles for power and influence, ideological differences and isolationist tendencies. The EU urgently needs to adapt to this new world. The neglected external perspective must complement the traditional internal perspective.

But for this to happen, the internal situation also needs to improve. The EU and the single market urgently need fundamental reform. This is also evident by the fact that the “Letta report” from February is now being followed by a further analysis with the “Draghi report” expected in June. The necessity for this may not necessarily be obvious, because much of it is not new – the industry has been pointing out numerous grievances for years. And the recommendations for action are also well known in Brussels: ensure unity, reduce bureaucracy, expand shared infrastructure, clear out the jungle of subsidies and regulations and much more.

Europe's industry must become more competitive again

In everything, one goal must be at the forefront: maintaining and expanding the competitiveness of European industry. At the moment, things are not going well for them. With the Antwerp Declaration, more than a thousand companies and organizations recently announced the urgent need for reform.

In my view, one thing is particularly important: that the EU focuses on its core competencies, especially with regard to its position in the geoeconomic game of forces. For me, this “USP” is technological innovation combined with the groundbreaking vision of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Europe can and must become a global hub for green, circular future technologies, with the help of strong industries such as chemistry.

All of this should be considered when the European elections take place at the beginning of June. I will definitely cast my vote. So that the EU story becomes a real bestseller.

As I surveyed the shoreline, I saw it as a microcosm of the broader crisis. Just as those misplaced objects inundated a section of this local river, our planet's environment is constantly inundated by plastics ending up where they shouldn't, what Earth Day reveals again. The reasons are complex, and addressing it will require a multitude of interventions.

However and important to note, plastics themselves aren't the root problem. On the contrary, they are materials we need for a sustainable future. What must improve is how we produce and manage plastics after use.

I'm excited these critical issues are being tackled at the international level: Two years ago, the UN initiated a process to develop a binding global treaty to end plastic pollution. Now, the fourth round of negocations (“INC-4”) takes place, from April 23 through 29 in Ottawa, Canada. And hopes are high an agreement could be reached by the end of this year to come into effect in 2025.

But one thing that really concerns me about the current trajectory: Various stakeholders are trying to include overly restrictive measures in the negotiations, advocating for greatly limiting plastic use across the board. Frankly, this would be a mistake.

It’s not just that we rely on plastics to drive the global green transition. Electromobility, sustainable construction, wind turbines, solar plants and many other applications wouldn’t work without them. Also, plastics have in many cases a lower environmental footprint than alternative materials and are often the more sustainable choice. A recent study from the University of Sheffield found some substitutes may actually contribute to higher greenhouse gas emissions compared to plastics.

Imagining this particular bulk bag which I found would be a 1000-litre capacity box or container made from wood, steel or aluminum! It is true, such rigid alternatives would be less prone to being carried away by the elements if stored or stowed inappropriately. However, they'd also be significantly heavier, requiring more material and energy just to transport. Depending on the contents and forces they would face from the outside, they could also be more susceptible to breaking or leaking.

The vision must be using minimal new and recycled resources, but global population and prosperity growth make this difficult. Producing and consuming less plastic overall, as Earth Day messaging suggests, is not the right approach. Instead, we need to direct sustainably-produced plastics into suitable applications and maximize reuse and recycling through a comprehensive circular economy, with designing products for this end from the outset. This minimizes unnecessary waste and keeps virgin resources in the ground by maximizing circulation of what we already have.

As INC-4 negotiations and Earth Day events unfold, I hope all parties take a nuanced, evidence-based view. Plastics aren't inherently the enemy – they are part of the solution when produced and used responsibly within a circular model. Incorporating real-world data on exposure pathways and material lifecycle impacts is crucial.

As important as single clean-up activities like those along the Rhine are – only by seeing and addressing the full picture we can turn off the "tap" contaminating our planet. Perhaps every day should be Earth Day.

I have the honor of representing Covestro and advocating for our stakeholders at several meetings in association with INC-4. At the top of my agenda are two important topics. First, that the value derived from the materials that Covestro produces is recognized. Sustainable technologies, from wind blades to lightweight electric vehicles, among countless other items, are made possible by Covestro materials. Second, that the positive impact plastics bring to society are not eclipsed by the desire to eliminate plastics altogether as a means to ending plastic waste. Throughout INC-4, it is important to reiterate that ending plastic waste does not mean ending plastic.

The goal of the INC meetings is to eliminate plastic pollution, and the best way to do so is through a circular economy.

A circular economy is much more than recycling. It creates an ecosystem in which plastic is viewed as a valuable resource that is used over and over again, and one in which the products plastics make possible are reused, repaired and recycled. It does not simply address the, “what do we do with this when we are done with it?” question. Fundamentally, it changes the mindset of how and why we use the materials we do, including plastic, from the initial design to the end of its use, and its eventual reuse.

It requires a design for circularity mindset. It requires ensuring that when a product is produced, its reuse is already planned. This can take many shapes, such as reusing a car, appliance or life-saving medical equipment. It can also mean thinking about the materials we choose to produce products. Covestro believes that both alternative raw materials and advanced recycling have a role to play. Using alternative raw materials, such as recycled content, in feedstocks to replace fossil fuels is essential. Equally as important is advancing recycling technologies, such as chemolysis – chemical recycling – to complement existing mechanical recycling so that recycled feedstock is readily available. These are the sorts of considerations that must be evaluated when embracing circular design.

Covestro takes designing for circularity very seriously. So much so, that in addition to applying circular design thinking to the thousands of applications for our materials, we actively collaborate with experts with unique perspectives. A circular economy is complex, and it requires an understanding that needs to be carried forward far beyond today. That is why Covestro and the University of Pittsburgh have developed the Covestro Circular Economy Program – a graduate level program focused on designing for circularity.

The goal of the Covestro Circular Economy Program at the University of Pittsburgh is to educate the next generation of circular thinkers and provide them with the foundation to create new circular product and service solutions. Essentially, to help develop the very people who will be tasked with carrying out the guidance set forth during the INC meetings.

In the context of the broader plastic waste discussion and the INC meetings, it is precisely this forward-looking view of circularity that must be applied to the discussions taking place now. Governments, industry and all the stakeholders in the discussion must let circular thinking guide their strategies for tackling plastic waste.

I am encouraged by the open dialogue and creative solutions put forward, but there is more work that must be done. INC-5 is set for November 25th through December 1st in Busan, Korea. We must continue to bring the momentum forward as we design an international legally binding instrument that is tailored to the varying needs of governments around the world, while keeping circularity central to the solution.

Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro, opened the event. He welcomed the international suppliers and positioned the scope 3 reduction targets within the vision of Covestro of becoming fully circular.

Covestro’s greatest opportunity to reduce Scope 3 emissions lies in reducing the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of our suppliers. Most of Covestro’s raw material suppliers have already defined Scope 1 and Scope 2 targets themselves, which is important for Covestro.

Dear Ferdinand, are we under pressure to act or are the suppliers?

Ferdinand Rammrath: Quite clearly: both! We can only achieve climate neutrality together with all partners along the value chain. Suppliers are central to this. Our Scope 3 targets are the final piece of the puzzle in our climate neutrality strategy. We have already set ourselves ambitious targets for Scope 1 and 2. The same applies to many of our suppliers, who have committed to the transformation towards net zero. Just as we actively reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions through PPAs, i.e. direct supply contracts with energy suppliers, and energy efficiency measures, our suppliers also have a duty to achieve their own targets. After all, success here is very much in their hands. We also encourage our suppliers to actively work with their own upstream partners on ways to reduce emissions that are sustainable, especially in these economically challenging times. The emissions generated by our suppliers along their production chain are passed on to us as Scope 3 emissions.

How can we support our suppliers – and how can they support us?

Ferdinand Rammrath: We want the reduction of emissions in the value chain to be seen not only as a responsibility, but also as an opportunity for growth. We engage in transparent and open dialog with our suppliers in order to understand their environmental impact and find solutions together. This collaborative partnership enables us to tackle challenges together, reduce our environmental impact and build a more sustainable future. In the future, it will be important for our suppliers to stay in business - with Covestro and in the market!

How will Procurement and the Business Entities work together?

Ferdinand Rammrath: We have worked closely with the BEs to develop various measures aimed at achieving our sustainability goals. The close exchange between the BEs helps to secure and implement the solutions. Various measures are developed that are aimed at specific sustainability goals. The close exchange with the BEs helps to secure the solutions. It is also important to work closely with the BEs on the long-term development of the stores. For some projects, we have to decide years in advance so that we then have access to circular raw materials in good time - e.g. through our cooperation with Encina.

What happens now after the initial kick-off? What are the next steps?

Ferdinand Rammrath: Our supplier event is like the starting signal for a marathon: we were able to present our new goals in the strategic context of Covestro and specifically address opportunities and our expectations. We are now moving directly into concrete implementation with our individual suppliers. This means that we are holding individual discussions, evaluating offers and focusing full transparency as to how much emission reduction is possible with which measures. Our motto is: Highest value for lowest cost. We are now measuring our concrete quantitative progress in achieving our Scope 3 target. This will hopefully be visible in our emissions reporting very soon! However, the marathon will only be won when we reach our interim target in 2035 and are climate-neutral across the entire value chain by 2050.

Why do we must pay attention to improving energy efficiency if we want to make progress on climate protection?

Christian Noll: You must be aware of the fact that almost three quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions stem directly or indirectly from energy consumption. To reduce the emissions, which are far too high, the transition from coal, oil, and other fossil resources to renewable sources such as sun and wind must gain massive momentum. But the world will not become climate neutral if we do not also use energy much more effectively. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy efficiency can contribute more than a third to reducing energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.

This aspect has always been somewhat in the shadows, just as with an unequal pair of twins. With the declared intention to double the efficiency rate, the UN climate conference COP 28 has now highlighted energy efficiency as an essential part of climate protection – an overdue paradigm shift. Saving energy and making energy green: Both must be promoted equally.

And buildings are a big influencing factor for this paradigm shift?

Christian Noll: Exactly. In Germany for example, the operation of buildings causes around 35 percent of final energy consumption and about 30 percent of CO₂ emissions. Although significant efficiency gains have been made in new buildings over the past few decades, there is still a lot to be done in the construction sector, especially with millions of old buildings. The renovation rate is historically low at less than 0.8 percent.

What is important to reduce the energy demand of buildings?

Markus Steilemann: It’s the combination of many different measures that matters. This particularly includes insulation against cold and heat to save energy for heating and cooling systems. At Covestro, we develop the ingredients for a particularly efficient insulating material: polyurethane foam. Compared to other conventional insulation materials used in house construction, it has the lowest thermal conductivity. And what's more: We can now produce the components for this, such as the chemical MDI, in a climate-neutral manner. In addition to good insulation, energy-efficient buildings also require economical lighting, digital building technology and the use of green energy.

How do we ensure that such products and technologies are used more widely?

Christian Noll: Especially through good political impulses. An important step in this direction is that the EU institutions recently agreed on the directive for more energy efficiency in buildings. However, this decision is far from enough to achieve the EU's climate goals. But I at least very much hope that the federal government will now implement the Brussels guidelines decisively and ambitiously for Germany. The new regulation of the national Building Energy Act that has now come into force is only focused on the provision of heat.

There is another new requirement – the Energy Efficiency Act, which has been in force in Germany since November 2023 and is aimed, among others, at industry.

Christian Noll: In Germany, industry alone accounts for 29 percent of total final energy consumption. While some companies practice consistent energy management, others still have great potential. Many technologies and ideas for using energy more productively in offices and businesses already exist. In concrete terms, this means that energy savings of around 20 percent are required in industry so that Germany can economically save about half of the final energy to achieve its climate goals by 2045. And these savings can also be implemented.

What is the state of the chemical industry as a major energy consumer?

Markus Steilemann: The sector has so far been able to decouple production from resource consumption. From 1990 to 2022, the specific energy use has been halved, primarily through the switch to combined heat and power. But in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to exploit potential. Especially since the chemical industry will need huge amounts of green electricity in the coming years. The sector can only become climate neutral by 2045 if companies electrify as many processes as possible.

What is Covestro doing in this regard?

Markus Steilemann: We are aiming at operational climate neutrality by 2035. On the one hand, we are systematically converting production worldwide to renewable energies. On the other hand, we are of course also increasing our efficiency. According to the figures published so far, Covestro has already been able to increase energy efficiency by almost 39 percent between 2022 and the reference year 2005. A main contributor to this is an energy efficiency system called Structese, which we are rolling out throughout the group. We developed it ourselves. But that doesn't mean that companies and industries may have blinders on, on the contrary.

Cross-industry cooperation between pioneering companies is needed when it comes to the crucial issue of energy efficiency. Fortunately, this approach is gaining momentum in Germany. For example, the wind industry and the chemical sector recently issued a joint position paper to help advance the sluggish expansion of renewables. And the waste management and chemical industries also want to work closer together. Tackling things jointly and remaining optimistic – this is how we can achieve the green transformation.

Truth and facts: both mined area and endangered biotope; especially in times of geopolitical crises and the spread of populist slogans. But now this area of ​​tension has a new dimension: the digital revolution. Social networks suddenly give space to millions of voices, can multiply them immeasurably and send billions of bits of information around the world in milliseconds every day. The algorithm as parameter for setting topics, forming opinions and viewing the world.

Disputed disruptor

With the triumph of artificial intelligence – which fluctuates between miracle and threat in public perception – a new stage has been reached. On the one hand, AI is welcomed, especially in business. Companies see it as a driver of progress on many levels, with good reason. At Covestro, for example, researchers can find new chemical formulations much faster now – the basis of innovations which we urgently need to solve many global challenges such as climate change and feeding the growing world population. The plastics manufacturer is therefore relying on generative AI across the board.

On the other hand, there is a palpable sense of unease in society. In Germany, for example, a survey on the attitude towards artificial intelligence from April 2023 revealed considerable fears. The clear majority of participants believe that AI could, among other things, influence the public discourse and even become a threat to mankind. And in the US, the proliferation of misleading audio and video deepfakes as well as political propaganda are the top concerns people have about AI, according to a September YouGov survey. The chatbot as demagogue.

More critical awareness

The political answer is, above all, to contain the technology. Accordingly, the EU has now agreed on the world's first AI law. But we can't really get anywhere with regulation, controls and bans. Because AI ​​itself is not the problem. Rather, the decisive factor is us humans. AI ​​only reflects what it learns from us, what we implant in it. Ultimately, it is up to all of us to ensure that technology is aligned with humanistic standards. That is why there is a need for more critical awareness in society.

The economy and companies can contribute to this. Only because employees probably have similar concerns. But also because firms have a special responsibility for society. In our complex, uncertain times, they are the institution that is still trusted the most, ahead of politics, the media and civil society organizations.

Companies can give something back from this trust capital. They can and should advocate for scientifically objective truth and fact-based dialogue in the age of technical manipulability (to borrow the title of Walter Benjamin’s book on “The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility”).

Highlighting the human factor

Questioning, analyzing and evaluating will become increasingly important in the future. And scientifically oriented industries such as chemistry can help to further develop or awaken these skills. People have the power to design AI according to their values ​​and ideas - this constructive message needs to be conveyed to an unsettled society. Covestro, for example, will train a planned AI-based “Virtual Assistant” for employees in a way that its answers correspond to the company’s code of conduct and ethos.

What else can companies do? Help build a culture of trust. By naming others we trust: scientists, journalists and bloggers, small and large associations, think tanks, start-ups or established companies. A coalition of pioneers that show: Only a fact-based worldview accompanied by critical optimism can move us forward.

More and more people are moving in the metropolises in search of freedom, development and diversion, advancement and prosperity. There are currently 4.4 billion city dwellers – that is more than half the world's population. By 2050, the proportion is expected to rise to almost 70 percent. At the same time, the number of huge metropolises continues to increase at a breathtaking pace. While there are almost 580 megacities like Dubai around the world today, there will probably be over 700 by 2030. The downside of this development is a spiral of resource extraction, fast-moving consumption and, in the end, more waste.

COP theme day on urbanization and climate

Conversely, megacities play a leading role in protecting the earth from ever-increasing heating and in shaping a sustainable society. At the two-week climate conference there will also be a special theme day for this important complex: On December 6th, politicians, donors and experts from all over the world will address the consequences of urbanization for the climate.

There are many starting points for reducing greenhouse gases and achieving climate neutrality in urban areas. There is, of course, the number one topic of the entire summit: the accelerated expansion of renewable energies and energy efficiency. Switching city traffic to electric mobility, heating and cooling buildings with wind and solar power, insulating them well and much more. But there are also measures that go beyond life in the here and now, i.e., beyond the use phase of houses. Measures that start before and afterwards, in the extraction of construction materials and in the question of what ultimately becomes of these substances and the raw materials embedded in them.

At the beginning of the life cycle, it's about producing materials that are as climate neutral as possible: cement, glass, wood, steel, plastic and everything else that is needed for construction should have the smallest possible climate footprint. Plastics, for example, which are important for building insulation, among other things, are increasingly being made from renewable raw materials such as plant biomass. Another source for replacing fossil resources such as petroleum is old products and waste, which should be used to create new materials to the largest possible extent.

Recycling enormous amounts of construction waste

This leads to the climate protection lever further back in the life cycle and to a special aspect that is still poorly understood: the shadowy existence of construction and demolition waste. In the European Union, for example, it is at the top of the total waste generated, with a share of 25 to 30 percent. Disposing of large amounts of heavy waste is expensive, and many cities find it difficult to place it in landfills due to cost and space constraints. And it doesn't make much sense because waste is unused raw material. It is therefore logical that the EU wants to promote, among other things, the identification, separation and collection of this waste and thus boost recycling.

It is also high time. Overall, the world is only 7.2 percent circular – less than a few years ago. To change that, it is not just waste management that needs to be expanded. Recycling should be comprehensively adopted in the construction sector and the upstream industries such as chemicals and plastics as a future-oriented path in the manufacture of products. This includes that construction materials, and all other products, buildings and infrastructures derived from them, must be designed from the outset in such a way that they can be used later let it be recycled.

Setting a signal for the circular economy

In short, the circular economy must become the global guiding principle. And the summit in Dubai should set a signal for circularity to be pushed forward intensively and implemented comprehensively. This is also the goal of the Global Impact Coalition, a new alliance in the chemical sector. Led by the CEOs of international companies, including Covestro, and set out to pave the industry's path to net-zero emissions by 2050.

Dubai itself has already adopted the concept of the circular economy. It is now in 22nd place in a recent ranking of the world's top 30 cities driving the transition to circular living. This puts the capital of the United Arab Emirates in the company of other metropolises such as London, Seattle, Buenos Aires and Beijing.

The transformation of cities – that is our big lever for climate neutrality and a truly sustainable future.

It’s obvious that this is no future-oriented approach. The oil age is becoming obsolete, and the chemical industry is paving the way for the non-fossil era. The latest milestone on our journey to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 is the formation of the Global Impact Coalition, a CEO-led alliance of seven visionary international chemical companies including Covestro. Incubated by the World Economic Forum, it encompasses a number of lighthouse projects to create low-carbon emitting production technologies and foster innovative ways of plastics recycling.

However, this is easier said than done. Since in many cases, end-of-life plastics are difficult to be sorted out of waste streams, and even if so, they are often made up of many different components which can hardly or not at all be separated. Yet I’m confident there will be further progress now thanks to the new Coalition.

One project Covestro is very much embedded in, is the emergence of a new R&D Hub, based in the Netherlands and hosted by TNO, an independent scientific research organization. Here, we are working together with other chemical companies on new solutions for waste processing with lower carbon emissions and enhanced circularity. If promising, we will file for intellectual property rights in different regions, eventually creating spin-offs outside the Coalition for piloting.

Collaboration and partnering – this is the essential thing. And that is why we are building an expanding network which already includes 70-plus senior chemical industry executives. And to enable high-impact project implementation, we are increasing collaboration with a wide range of suppliers, value chain partners, policymakers and financial institutions.

When will you join us?