Brussels 28 November 2018 - Today the European Commission presented its scenarios outlining ways the EU economy can reach carbon-neutrality by 2050. These scenarios require a huge transformation of all sectors of the economy in a very short timeframe.  Marco Mensink, Cefic Director General said: “The long term strategy is a big step forward for the EU’s climate ambition.  With only 30 years left for the European society and industry to change, we are facing an enormous challenge and opportunity ahead of us. Industry in the EU needs a robust transformation route that secures investment in order to succeed as one cannot underestimate the size of this challenge. The Commission strategy has clarified the size of the investments needed. Together with the Commission, industry has identified the technological options available.  Now we need to secure Europe gets these investments, often made by global companies. We need to make clear to all what is required from industry, policymakers and citizens, while keeping the EU economy running”. The chemical industry is confident it will seize the opportunities of this transformation and be the provider of the future solutions needed.  As clearly recognized, the chemical industry is and will be at the heart of the solution, but we need these solutions to be produced by European industry. For that reason we need a strong European strategy for energy intensive industries and electricity production, especially for the next ten years, which are crucial. We look forward to discussing and agreeing on the concrete measures that will need to be introduced to support the chemical industry in implementing this transformation. For the chemical industry evolving towards carbon neutrality would mean major investments in new industrial processes involving the use of alternative feedstock sources (CO2, biomass and waste) into a circular way, sectoral integration and transformation of our existing plants. This also means the chemical sector needs access to significant amounts of affordable low carbon electricity, access to a modern infrastructure and financial mechanisms to support the required innovation.  A package of policy, financial, innovation and regulatory support will be needed to overcome the higher costs of investments and new business models, in a sector and markets that compete at global level. Early 2019 Cefic will launch it’s mid century strategy, outlining a more detailed analysis on our sector, the opportunities and our needs.