Clariant has committed to new 2030 targets to reduce CO2 emissions in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which has validated them. This follows the establishment last year a dedicated unit to accelerate its sustainability transformation. The targets are:

* 40% absolute reductions in Scope 1 (made directly during production) and 2 (emitted indirectly, mainly through consuming steam and electricity) greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emissions on 2019 levels

* A 14% absolute reductions in Scope 3 (other indirect) GHG emissions on 2019 levels

In a letter to government ministers that has been seen by the Financial Times, 25 industry leaders have called for “a more proportionate, effective and efficient” post-Brexit chemical regulatory regime in the UK. The writers are understood to be from multiple trade associations, including the Chemical Industries Association (CIA), though this has not been confirmed.

DuPont, its spin-off company Chemours, and Corteva, which unites DuPont’s and Dow’s former agrochemicals businesses, have agreed a settlement on all legal disputes concerning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) arising out of the spin-off of Chemours in 2015.

The German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) and the German Chemical Employers' Association (BAVC) have joined forces to “vehemently reject” calls for a three-week shutdown for the chemical-pharmaceutical industry. This has been suggested as part of a nationwide ‘hard lockdown’ to fight the rapid growth in COVID-19 infection.

The need to obtain REACH authorisation before using harmful chemicals “has sped up substitution and reduced risks to people’s health and the environment - at a reasonable cost”, according to a recent study by ECHA that was based on information from 2010-20.

From 1 February, Sumitomo Chemical will establish a strategy council and a cross-functional team led by executive officers supervising research planning and coordination, Responsible Care and related functions to promote and formulate strategies for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. This will be based on four approaches:

* Minimising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with its production activities through innovation, and deploying new technologies to that end

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has revealed that about 2,900 registrations of 268 chemicals by UK-based manufacturers, importers and only representatives under REACH have now been revoked and become void, because a transfer from a UK- to a EU-based registrant was not started by the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.

This equates to about 3% of all registrations and about 1% of all registered substances. Of these, about 60% were registered only for intermediate use, meaning that the market impact of their registration being revoked will be limited.