Andre Veneman, Corporate
Director Sustainability and
HSE, AkzoNobel
The movement of people and goods is crucial to the world economy. Whether travelling for work, visiting friends or using products shipped from another
country, we rely on transport to go
about our daily lives. However, our
roads, train stations, ports and airports are busier than ever as populations grow and we increasingly
move into cities.
Globally, the transportation sector is expected to continue growing,
with a geographic shift of demand
and manufacturing to the developing
economies. But with this growth, environmental concerns are also increasing. Presently, more than 60 percent
of the 87 million barrels of oil consumed every day power the world’s
transportation sector and liquid fossil
fuels account for 94 percent of the energy supply to the sector.
If the transportation sector is to be successful in reducing its
impact and if it is to contribute to the limiting of global warming to less than 2°C, it cannot continue to develop under a busi-ness-as-usual scenario.
According to the predictions of the World Business Council
Sustainability Development’s ‘Vision 2050’ report, universal access to low carbon transport is expected by 2050. An 80 percent
reduction in energy use by light-duty vehicles is also forecast,
along with a 50 percent drop in energy usage within shipping/
freight transportation.
These changes will create challenges and opportunities
for all those companies operating within the sector. If suppliers such as AkzoNobel are to respond effectively to these
trends, they need to focus on bigger, bolder innovations that
can substantially improve sustainability, and deliver better
value for customers.
The transportation sector needs these sustainable solutions.
And if companies are to develop them, they need to recruit the
very best people – pioneering chemists and engineers; strategists
with acute insight into the markets, needs and global trends that
will shape our world. Naturally, businesses need to commit to
Innovating to
Drive Change in
Transportation Sector
