CEO Briefing with Rebecca Lee

On the evening of the 4th of September, we had the pleasure of welcoming a group of 12 CEOs and top managers of our member companies to an exclusive CEO Briefing with Rebecca Lee, Managing Director at Covestro Australia. Rebecca is also a member of the Board of the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and spoke on the topic of “Sustainability- is it a challenge or an asset”?

Rebecca explored three concepts in relation to Covestro’s corporate strategy in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. For several years now, the “People, Planet, Profit” principle has been applied at Covestro. This means that the organisation wants to foster increased value on the economic, environmental, and social levels, all at the same time. Rebecca explained how Covestro has embraced the triple bottom line principle of the three P’s in the two major areas of Covestro’s business: polycarbonates (where the main customer industries include automotive; electronics and the medical sector) and polyurethanes (where the main customer industries are construction; sports, leisure and renewables).

Rebecca also discussed how Covestro is driving carbon productivity and closing the loop on the circular economy by harnessing waste CO2 – greenhouse gas otherwise emitted into the atmosphere – and using it, instead of fossil fuel, as the raw material to manufacture flexible foam used in mattresses and furniture. Last but not least, she also talked about how a chemical industry, as Covestro, leads the young generation with the purpose to make a world a brighter place.

It was a truly engaging presentation, which provoked many questions from the audience and sparked interesting discussions around sustainability, and the role that corporations and the government play. We hope our guests enjoyed the opportunity to network and exchange ideas with all participants over drinks and canapés in the exclusive atmosphere of the Langham Melbourne. We would like to thank Rebecca Lee for her time, and for sharing some of Covestro’s sustainability journey with us.