KEYNOTE: Changing global chemical market, against the backdrop of current and future economic, environmental and performance trends and challenges

Time & Location

Thursday 12.30 to 13.00, Stage 2

Keynote Speaker

Richard HaldimannChief Technology & Sustainability Officer, Clariant

About this presentation

Sustainability is rapidly becoming minimum requirement for doing business. It is expected by customers, investors, employees and legislators around the world. The past few years have produced a flurry of policies, most recently producing the US Inflation Reduction Act. This is happening during a time of great global disruptions by the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine and an energy crisis.

The chemical sector is both heavily exposed to the global disruptions as well as a key enabler of the sustainability transformation, providing the technology for everything from sustainable fuels and hydrogen, to climate neutral products. The presentation explores these trends and shows how Clariant is addressing them with some examples.

Speaker Bio

Richard Haldimann was appointed Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer of Clariant in February 2022. He has been a Member of the Executive Leadership Team since July 2022 and leads also Clariants Technology & Sustainability department, including Sustainability Transformation, Product Stewardship, ESHA & IGSM and Analytical Sciences. Previously, he held the position of Head of SustainabilityTransformation since 2020. From 2015 to 2020, he was Head of New Business Development and in that role responsible for several internal startup businesses to explore growth options outside of the core business. From 2010 to 2015 he was responsible for developing Clariants Innovation System as Clariant Excellence Deployment Leader for Innovation Excellence. Prior to his employment at Clariant, Richard Haldimann spent ten years in various business positions of increasing responsibility in the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing industry. Richard studied Chemistry at the ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) in Zürich, Switzerland, where he also obtained a PhD in organic Chemistry, followed by a posdoctorial research position at the University of California in San Diego