When registering, please indicate whether you would like to join the event in-person or online. Due to limited space at the conference centre, all requests for in-person participation are subject to confirmation from the OECD.
OECD workshop on financing sustainable chemistry
- Date
- 29-30 June 2026
- Time
- Day 1: 14:00 - 18:00; Day 2: 9:30-17:15
- Location
- Conference Centre, OECD Boulogne
About
*A cocktail reception will take place on the evening of 29 June
The OECD workshop on sustainable chemistry will discuss enabling conditions, lessons, and financing approaches that could stimulate investment towards safer and more sustainable chemicals, building on experience from Green Finance and Investment (GFI) for climate mitigation and other environmental goals.
Governments, investors, industry stakeholders, civil society and financial institutions are invited to participate.
The workshop will:
Examine the current landscape, barriers and opportunities for investment in sustainable chemistry (with a focus on industrial and consumer chemicals).
Draw lessons from green finance and investment (GFI) — particularly policies, financial instruments and enabling frameworks that have contributed to mobilising investment in climate mitigation.
Identify policy levers, financial tools and institutional actions relevant to mobilising investment in sustainable chemistry.
Highlight existing initiatives and investor perspectives demonstrating emerging momentum and gaps.
Explore which enabling conditions for investment are currently in place and which require further development.
Agenda
Discover what the event is about.
Day 1
14:50-15:50
This session will highlight historical experience with renewable energy finance and other climate mitigation domains. Key themes include the role of R&D support, feed-in tariffs, contracts for difference, de-risking through public financial institutions, and investment vehicles such as infrastructure funds and green bonds.
Chair: Robert Youngman (Team Leader, Green Finance and Investment, Finance, Investment and Global Relations Division, Environment Directorate, OECD), with opening scene-setting discussion
Speakers:
• Dirk Rottgers (OECD)
• UNEP FI (speaker TBD)
• Piergiuseppe Morone (Unitelma Sapienza Università di Roma)
• Robert Youngman (OECD)
Open discussion question: What are the enabling conditions from GFI that you think have the most relevance for sustainable chemistry?
Day 1
16:20-17:50
This session will provide perspectives on conditions and challenges for developing and financing safer chemistry, to provide background and set the stage for tomorrow’s discussions with the chemicals sector and with investors.
Chair: Eeva Leinala (Principal Administrator Risk Management Programme, Environmental Safety and Health Division, Environment Directorate, OECD)
Speakers:
· Ester Kardienaal (Coordinator International Chemicals, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, The Netherlands)
· Peter Nieuwenhuizen (Former CTO and Corporate Director of R&D and Sustainability at AkzoNobel; Founding Partner of Surechem)
Respondents:
· Peter Korytar (DG Environment, European Commission)
· Joel Tickner (UMass Lowell)
· Piergiuseppe Morone (Unitelma Sapienza Università di Roma): On additional elements from the background paper to highlight.
Open discussion question: What (other) conditions and challenges exist for developing and financing safer chemistry, and which should be prioritised in discussions on policy solutions?
Day 1 Wrap Up
· Eeva Leinala (OECD)
· Robert Youngman (OECD)
Day 2
09:30-11:00
This session will focus on the principal obstacles to scaling up investment in sustainable chemistry, highlighting (where applicable) areas where obstacles may yield to solutions in coming years and previewing related discussions in Session 5.
Key discussion points:
- What are the challenges and successes that industry (chemical companies and chemical users) has experienced in scaling up investment in sustainable chemistry? What has worked, what hasn’t and why?
- What are the enabling policy conditions that would better support finance and investment?
Chair: Joel Tickner (University of Massachusetts Lowell)
Speakers:
· Tommy Detemmerman (Dow)
· Dirk Thelen (PPG Industries Europe Sarl)
· Stuart Askew (Procter & Gamble Services Company)
Respondents:
· Eeva Leinala (OECD)
· Piergiuseppe Morone (Unitelma Sapienza Università di Roma)
Day 2
11:30-13:00
This session will explore key aspects of existing policies, initiatives, and investor activity supporting safer chemistry. Discussions will explore investor-identified risks, opportunities, reputational considerations, and early niches where safer chemistry innovation is attracting investment. It will also consider whether specific policies would be needed to scale up such investment. In addition to discussing investor perspectives or initiatives in this space and presenting their views on these topics, speakers may wish to reflect on what will be in the background document for the workshop.
Key discussion points to cover in the presentations and discussion:
• What types of financing and investment have been utilised for safer and more sustainable chemistry. What has worked, what hasn’t and why?
• What are the enabling policy conditions that would better support finance and investment?
Chair: Robert Youngman (OECD)
Speakers:
• Marc Borghans and Daiane Piva (ING)
• Rachel Crossley (BNP Paribas Asset Management)
• Kimihiko Takamatsu (Resona Asset Management)
• Cecilia Fryklöf (Nordea Asset Management)
• Alexis Michael Bazzanella (International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3))
Respondents:
• Joel Tickner (UMass Lowell)
• Peter Nieuwenhuizen (Former CTO and Corporate Director of R&D and Sustainability at AkzoNobel; Founding Partner of Surechem)
• Piergiuseppe Morone (Unitelma Sapienza Università di Roma)
Day 2
14:15-15:30
The final session will synthesise workshop discussions to:
- Assess takeaways from the background document on the potential applicability of lessons from GFI to financing sustainable chemistry;
- Identify key gaps in the chemicals sector with respect to enabling conditions for financing and scaling up sustainable chemistry; and
- Gather perspectives on priority areas for OECD analysis, based on views on the enabling policies, institutional frameworks, financial instruments, voluntary approaches, disclosure needs, and other actions that hold the most promise for scaling up sustainable chemistry and can realistically be established in coming years.
Chair: Robert Youngman (OECD)
Speaker:
- Piergiuseppe Morone (Unitelma Sapienza Università di Roma)
Respondents:
· Joel Tickner (UMass Lowell)
· Robert Youngman (OECD)
· Eeva Leinala (OECD)
· Peter Korytar (DG Environment, European Commission)
· Koki Takaki (Ministry of Environment, Japan) (Virtual)
Day 2
16:00-17:15
Based on the conclusions in Session 6, this session will discuss upcoming work/activities of other initiatives and key actors, and consider:
• Linkages with potential focus areas of future OECD work on financing sustainable chemistry; and
• Potential next steps
Chair: Eeva Leinala (OECD)
Speakers:
• Benjamin Warr (UNEP) (TBC)
• Peter Korytar (DG Environment, European Commission)
Open discussion on possible ways forward, including synergies between existing and planned initiatives and potential future work on financing safer chemistry by the OECD.
• Eeva Leinala/Robert Youngman (OECD)
