Climate Forward

Bart Langius explains why replacing fossil-based plastics is not just a chemistry challenge, but an industrial one. At Avantium, he is helping bring PEF, a polyester made from plant sugars, from pilot scale into the market. The conversation looks at Europe’s weakening petrochemical position and the real hurdles facing new materials: cost, scale, customer risk, and recycling systems. It is a practical look at what it takes to build a new materials category.

Olivier Rolland is a chemist turned sustainability strategist working at the intersection of biology, business, and climate impact. Over two decades, he has worked on bio-based materials, sustainable aviation fuel, and large-scale supply systems across companies like Michelin, Total, Boeing, and now L’Oréal. He shares what it takes to bring sustainable technologies to market, why economic viability is often the missing piece, and how large companies are rethinking their value chains from the inside out.

Palm Oil Isn’t the Problem: Land, Perception, and Supply Chain Reality with Caroline Westerik-Sikking​ and Jules Blom and Jules Blom from AAK challenge one of the most emotional debates in sustainability: palm oil. They argue the issue is not the crop itself, but how it is produced, and that replacing palm can increase pressure on land rather than reduce it. In this conversation, they show what supply chain sustainability actually looks like in practice, from satellite-based deforestation monitoring to direct sourcing models in West Africa.

Lilian Cooper is an artist and European Climate Pact Ambassador whose work connects nature, science, and everyday places. For nearly three decades she has documented fragile coastlines, rising sea levels, and the quiet resilience of urban nature. She speaks about drawing disappearing shorelines, rehabilitating so-called weeds, working with scientists, and why careful observation can make climate change visible.

Tjebbe Boersma talks about climate action, his passion for Japan, and nematodes.