Liebe Leserinnen, liebe Leser,

Dear readers,

The coronavirus pandemic has governed our lives in recent months and forced us, all over the world, to face up to previously unknown questions. At the same time, we cannot and must not neglect fundamental challenges such as climate protection. More and more countries throughout the world are working to implement the aims of the Paris climate protection agreement, and the European Union has used its Green Deal to formulate the climate goal clearly for the continent: to be climate-neutral by 2050. This plan is very ambitious, and will require more creativity, innovation, and international cooperation than ever. Energy supplies that are obtained from renewable sources will play a key role in this. Our cover story examines how the switch from fossil fuels to renewables can succeed.

For us, as BASF, climate protection and energy have long been very important topics. As part of the chemical industry, we are indeed using our innovative products to lay the foundations for a low-carbon future. However, our own carbon footprint is still too big, and that is something we aim to change. For this reason, we are working hard on fundamentally new, low-carbon production processes to enable us to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this issue, we explain why we need large quantities of renewable energy at competitive prices in order to achieve this. This requires policymakers to urgently create the framework for a successful transformation in the industry.

We also need to work faster on digitalization; the coronavirus pandemic is making that very clear. Up to 40,000 BASF employees have worked temporarily from home, and this made things a lot easier during the crisis. In this issue we also discuss how mobile working is making long-term changes to the way we cooperate with each other. By adopting an open attitude to modern technologies, I am sure we will be able to achieve ambitious climate protection goals while at the same time increasing our value creation.

I hope you enjoy reading Creating Chemistry!