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What are we asking companies to do?

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It's to collaborate, really,
on transformational projects

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that cannot be done in isolation
by any one company alone,

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and really need, as you
mentioned, a value-chain approach.

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Scalable, low-carbon production.

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That's a challenge for many industries.

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It's a particular challenge
for the chemicals industry.

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Now, you have a company,
Moeve, who works in that field.

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How are you taking up this challenge?

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It's a big challenge for
the chemicals industry

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Because there's a number
of things we need to do

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at the same time in order
to get to the promised land

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of the green chemicals molecule.

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We need to rewire the
whole feedstock chain

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from fossil to sustainable feedstocks.

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We need to decarbonize our own operations,

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which is electrifying heat,
electrifying energy, et cetera,

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and then use, obviously,
renewable electricity.

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We also need to make sure
that we really, really embrace

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circularity in the whole value chain.

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And we need to get the customers in.

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Because, at the end of the day,

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somebody has to buy this
green chemicals molecule

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and that's not always straightforward.

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And you already hinted at it, Maarten,

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it depends on your customers,

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it also depends on other
corporates, on your competition.

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Charlie, you've worked
on this a lot, right?

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If you look at GIC, what does
it take to build a coalition

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where you bring stakeholders

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from very different walks of life together

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to tackle a challenge like
the one Maarten described?

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Yeah, so, for us, when we
started Global Impact Coalition

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two years ago now, it was
very, very important that,

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from the outset, we were able to form

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a very strong governance process.

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So actually, what are
the rules of engagement?

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How do companies cooperate together?

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How do they share in knowledge?

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How do they share in risk as well?

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Occasionally in large CapEx investments,

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what is the way that we
can not just enable this,

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but also accelerate this?

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So it's very important also

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that we were able to have
a strong element of trust.

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So thankfully, our roots started here,

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at the World Economic
Forum, and we've managed

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to continue this trust because, actually,

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what are we asking companies to do?

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It's to collaborate, really,
on transformational projects

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that cannot be done in isolation
by any one company alone,

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and really need, as you
mentioned, a value-chain approach.

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So this is from, I would
say, chemical producers

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all the way down, really, to the end user.

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And this also takes
into account financing,

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policy, regulation.

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So there are many different facets

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of actually moving forward
into the sustainable transition

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in a way that also allows it
to be commercially viable,

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which is very, very important
actually in times like this,

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when, of course, CEOs have
many priorities on the table.

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But we, as GIC, to be successful,

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we have to lead with the
commercial viability, really.

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And, of course, this will unlock
the sustainability impact.

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Is there any emerging technology

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or business model of
your company or another

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that you find especially
exciting or promising?

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I think, as an industry,
we have to really work

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with our customers to see
where are those niches,

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because we don't often, historically,

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we haven't really looked
at the final customer.

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We've just looked at the
buyer of our chemical.

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We need to look at the final customer

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and see which final customer

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might be willing to pay a premium.

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But that leaves quite a lot
of chemicals still unanswered,

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where there simply isn't a final customer

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willing to pay a premium,

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unless the regulator forced them to.

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So it's working with customers,
final customer insights,

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and working with regulators
to demand that skill

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because these businesses,
all these value chains,

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are not going to run

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unless there are people buying at the end.

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And I think what you've
both spoken eloquently about

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is the private sector can do
a lot alone and in coalitions

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to advance the innovation

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to actually put in the
research and the development.

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But to take it up beyond the niche

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and to move it into broad markets,

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it will need the policymaking behind it.

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So best of success for 2026

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and thank you both for
joining me here today.

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Many thanks for having us.

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Thank you very much.

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(bright music)