The collective debate highlights the industry as the key to achieving climate goals. This calls for a green actor who can offer ready-made solutions. Eva-Marie Byberg, Head of Sustainability and Public Affairs, talks about how the business is influenced by the world around us.
Fossil fuels must be phased out. It must happen quickly. 2030 is just around the corner. New alarming reports show that we are not doing enough. It is easy to feel a certain despair when following the climate debate. But there is actually reason for optimism.
The transition must take place in the industry” is a slogan that is being heard more and more. It may seem a bit imprecise. Other changes are easier to visualize. Let us break it down. In principle, all process industries use some form of chemicals. The vast majority are made from fossil raw materials. This means that the chemical industry accounts for 14 percent of global industrial carbon dioxide emissions. We really need to do something about that.
Politics and business do not always go hand in hand, but we must go in the same direction. 2022 has shown that when politics has difficulty moving forward, the business leads the way. We see that demand for green alternatives is increasing and with the right signals from politics, there is every possibility to accelerate.
It is obvious that it can be done. The work that has been done in the transport sector shows that a combination of innovation and policy is needed. How we travel today is not sustainable. It is also not sustainable to think that the solution is for us to travel less. The conclusion is that we must think differently. If cars cannot run on combustion engines, what can they be powered by?
The spotlight is clearly directed towards the factory floor. It’s time for action. And when everyone talks about the industry’s transition, it
speaks for us at Sekab.
Likewise, we know that industry can no longer use so much fossil raw materials in its processes. But we also know that we cannot stop producing medicines, cars, clothes and everything in between. If we can no longer use industrial chemicals made from oil: what can we make chemicals from?
Here, it is a great advantage that we already know the answer. Sekab has been making chemicals from bio-based ethanol in our factory for decades. Green chemicals are not a future vision, they are here and now. If clear goals were set to reduce oil dependency also for industrial production, the effect could be seen shortly.
It is clear that the industry is increasingly at the center of the climate debate. The spotlight is clearly directed towards the factory floor. It’s time for action. And when everyone talks about the industry’s transition, it speaks for us at Sekab.