Conference "Deep Decarbonisation of Materials Processing Industries"

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is home to over 50 per cent of Germany's and over 10 per cent of the EU's basic materials processing industries with most of them located in the Rhine-Ruhr region in the centre of the state. NRW has started teaming up with its industry champions, trade associations and trade unions, environmental NGOs and other societal groups to develop a vision for a modern decarbonised materials processing industry. In order to realise this vision, which is still under construction, wide-ranging and partly disruptive innovations in industrial process technologies as well as significant changes in energy systems are needed. NRW as an energy hub with a unique cluster of industries, engineering know-how and dedicated research facilities is starting to position itself as a leading region for the transition of processing industries towards deep decarbonisation.

Deep decarbonisation of basic materials processing industries while improving its competitiveness is an emerging and challenging topic that so far has received very little attention. The state of NRW – venue of this year's COP23 in Bonn and a major hub of German and European basic materials processing industries – the Wuppertal Institute and the EnergyAgency.NRW organise an international one-day conference on 10 November from 10 to 17.30 at Post Tower in Bonn to raise awareness for this important challenge.

The ambition is to convene relevant policymakers, industrial leaders, scientists and NGOs who do pioneering work on the topic. The conference will explore the current state of knowledge and provide a comprehensive overview of existing activities in the EU, states and regions as well as industries and associations worldwide. Participants will get access to the latest ideas and concepts, policies and networks. Furthermore, the event provides a good opportunity for networking within the fast-growing community. Due to its interconnectedness with other events, the conference will also send a strong signal to climate negotiators for the policy support needed to advance deep decarbonisation of processing industries.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitisation and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia, Eva Svedling, State Secretary (Government Offices of Sweden, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, International Development Cooperation and Climate), Prof. Dr. Manfred Fischedick, Vice-President of the Wuppertal Institute, and Dr. Reinhold E. Achatz (CTO – Head of Corporate Function Technology, Innovation & Sustainability at thyssenkrupp AG), will be expected on the podium. For further information, please see the following links (registration is no longer possible.)