The European chemical industry has long been asking for a dedicated roadmap to support the biggest transformation in its history; by 2050 the EU chemicals sector will need to become climate neutral, circular, digitalize its processes and transition to safe and sustainable chemicals. All these actions require tens of billions of additional investments between now and 2050. And this all needs to happen in a very tense geopolitical environment.

On Jan. 27, 2023, the EU Commission published the “EU Chemical Industry Transition Pathway.” In more than 200 individual actions, the document outlines a transformation path for the industry on how it can achieve the major goals from the European Green Deal. CEFIC hailed this publication as a first-of-a-kind report offering European industry a roadmap towards the EU Green Deal goals.

Based on eight topical clusters, recommendations for action are assigned to the European level, the member states and the companies. In addition, a regulatory roadmap visualizes the implementation periods of the most important legislative measures from the current EU legislative program.

Martin Brudermüller, president of CEFIC and CEO of BASF, commented: “Today an important milestone is reached on the exciting but challenging journey for our sector towards meeting the European Green Deal goals. The EU chemicals industry is already in execution of its transformation, but we need clarity, perspectives and direction on how to get there. The Transition Pathway provides our industry with more clarity on ‘the how’ and ‘the when’. The successful implementation will help to define the future of our industry in Europe for the coming decades and we stand ready to work with the European Commission, the Member State governments and the European Parliament to do our share to make this happen.”

For more information, visit the Transition Pathway website created by CEFIC.