Germany, as one of the major chemical manufacturing nations, has committed to achieve this goal by 2050. But companies need to translate this industry vision into their specific context.

System changes of the scale of CO₂ neutrality for a whole industry sector require a new mindset. Major transformations command long lead times and require consistent and persistent follow-through. It is all but clear whether enough value is created to justify the huge investments and how new value generated is distributed among critical players and investors.

CHEManager asked executives and industry experts to share their opinions on this industry transformation, which is a multi-stakeholder challenge and comprises economical, technical, societal and political aspects. We proposed to discuss the following aspects:

• What is your strategy / timeline to become carbon neutral and what are the key challenges on the path to achieve this goal?
• What political / regulatory measures are needed to encourage companies to invest in carbon neutral technologies?
• What economical / societal benefits do you expect or hope for by decarbonizing your business?
• How do you plan to involve external stakeholders critical for achieving CO₂ neutrality?

Read the insightful answers of the experts here.

Wijnand Bruinsma
Program Manager Sustainability, AkzoNobel

Uwe Bergmann
Head of Sustainability Management, Henkel

Martin Babilas
CEO, Altana

Rudolf Staudigl
President and CEO, Wacker Chemie

Tatsuhiko Tokunaga
General Manager, Sustainability Strategy Planning Department, Asahi Kasei

Delf Bintakies
Head of Ecological Footprint, Bayer

Lucrèce Foufopoulos
Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology, Borealis

Walmir Soller
Vice President Olefins/Polyolefins, Europe and Asia, Braskem

Richard Haldimann
Head of Sustainability Transformation, Clariant

Christian Haessler
Global Program Lead Circular Economy, Covestro

Ralf Brinkmann
President Dow Germany, Central Europe, Italy, Israel and Greater Russia

Stefan Haver
Head of Sustainability, Evonik

Hubert Fink
Member of the Board of Management, Lanxess

Bernhard Hettich
Chief Technology Officer, CHT Group

Zanna McFerson
Managing Director of the Renewable Chemistries, Avantium

Herwig Buchholz
Head of Group Corporate Sustainability, Merck

Vivi Hollertt
Chief Sustainability and Communications Officer, Nouryon

Matthias Braun
Managing Director Active Ingredients, Sanofi-Aventis Germany

Mark Williams
Vice President Europe, SABIC

Samia Nehme
VP Chemicals Europe and Africa, Global Excellence and Product Stewardship, Shell Chemicals

Heinz-Jürgen Bertram
CEO, Symrise

Bernhard Kott
Chief Sustainability Officer, Symrise

Jürgen Vormann
Chairman of the Management Board, Infraserv

Thomas Wagner
CEO, GETEC

Clemens Mittelviefhaus
Managing Director, Yncoris

Frank Hyldmar
CEO, Currenta