Editorial: Frans Stokman (June 2020)

Dear Members,

We hope this newsletter finds you well and provides for an interesting overview of what Petrochemicals Europe and its sector groups have been working on collaboratively since May.

My first two months have been very digital and virtual ones. Yet technology was also there to facilitate my on-boarding (“Mind the Gap”) and to help bring Petrochemicals Europe up to speed and manage transition. We continue to have fruitful and challenging sessions with our Board to update our Mission, Vision and Priorities in order to further align with Cefic’s 2050 Vision as well as with the EU Green Deal objectives. At EU level, the European Commission has reviewed its work plan and priorities for 2020 and agreed on a new planning for the Green Deal. It has also proposed a Recovery package entitled “Next Generation EU”.

More specifically, a vast amount of various initiatives and documents was released recently on e.g. the chemical industry, the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, Hydrogen. Meanwhile several companies have taken serious steps and showed their ambition to support circular economy and sustainability. Initiatives such as pilot projects, innovation and technology developments are being announced on electricity infrastructure, chemical recycling, CCS/CCU and hydrogen to name a few. You will find an article listing some of these initiatives in the newsletter.

I am convinced of our industry’s ability to contribute to achieving the Green Deal objectives. We are working closely together with our President, Rob Ingram, and all the other members of the Board to clearly define our priorities, targets and involvement. Facilitating the dialogue between the industry and the EU institutions to ensure that its requirements and opportunities are in line with the Green deal objectives, will keep us all very busy in the coming years. The Cefic Transition Monitoring system intends also to provide support with consistent data, overviews and tracker dashboards. The aim is to foster synergies among petrochemicals companies to help them in their path towards carbon-neutrality and to have their efforts and contribution recognized at EU level.

I am sure all of you will continue to play your key roles in this transition period. I wish you will have time to read this newsletter. We are all trying to find our way during the transition, back to schools, terraces, restaurants, theaters, making breaks in between virtual meetings and creating solutions within our industry that is so vital to most of the industrial ecosystems.

Yours faithfully,

Frans Stokman