AkzoNobel has announced an initiative designed to collectively accelerate carbon reduction in the paints and coatings industry. The company has invited partners from across the value chain to take part in its Collaborative Sustainability Challenge, a new Paint the Future initiative that aims to develop a shared approach to tackling climate change. Due to be staged in May in Amsterdam, the 24-hr event will involve senior executives and next-generation leaders from a select group of partners (including suppliers and customers) who will engage in open discussions in a non-confidential environment.

“Successfully tackling the impact of climate change is everyone’s responsibility,” said Thierry Vanlancker, CEO. “Having set science-based sustainability targets to halve our carbon emissions across the full value chain by 2030, we’re fully committed to getting there. However, we know the only way for us to achieve that ambition—and play our part in limiting global warming to 1.5˚C above pre-industrial levels—is to collaborate with our partners.”

During the event, participants will delve into the following areas:

• Energy transition—inspire partners toward decarbonizing processes and transitioning to renewable energy sources
• Process efficiency—increase the efficiency of material use and reduce the energy required for applying and curing paints and coatings
• Solvent emissions—reduce the number of solvents emitted throughout the entire value chain
• Circular solutions—increase the use of circular solutions in paints and coatings, both upstream and downstream

“There are unprecedented challenges we all need to overcome,” said Klaas Kruithof, chief technology officer. “Achieving this will require collaborative innovation across the industry. We want to challenge ourselves and our partners to collectively identify opportunities in the areas we’ll be discussing, which will result in just one true winner—our planet.”

For more information, visit https://www.letspaintthefuture.com/collaborative-sustainability-challenge.