*INTRODUCTION* *Tom Crotty* Director, Ineos Group EPCA President EPCA President Tom Crotty welcomed delegates to the 44th EPCA Annual Meeting with the news that it was the most successful ever, with over 2,300 delegates. “I’m quite sure that if the economists of the world are looking for a reliable indicator of economic activity, they could do worse than call (EPCA Secretary General) Cathy Demeestere and her colleagues in Brussels and check registration rates for EPCA. It clearly shows Europe well on the way to recovery.” Nine billion people in 2050 as we examine how chemical industry can be an enabler of solutions. However, Crotty said he found it easier to look back than forward. Trying to imagine 40 years hence is diffi cult, he said. Looking back, the Ineos Group Director noted that many widely-held 1970 concerns and issues were the same today: concerns about world population growth and an impending energy crisis, the battles against global terrorism and poverty. But science and technology had made the world a very different place. “In 1970, “computers, mobile phones, 3D TVs, hybrid cars” were the stuff of science fi ction. Now, they are the stuff of everyday life, thanks – in no small part – to our industry.” Over this 40-year period, the EPCA President continued, the chemical industry had been at the cutting edge of technological development, meeting every challenge “that has been thrown at us from every front. This had enabled the development of microscopic components, new materials, cleaner water and greener technologies. Our industry has helped to make our world a better, safer, more enjoyable place to be. And that same challenge faces us over the next 40 years.” “Our industry has helped to make our world a better, safer, more enjoyable place to be. And that same challenge faces us over the next 40 years.” *SUMMARY* *DAY 1:* *Nine Billion People in 2050.* The Chemical Industry as Enabler of Solutions. *Introduction* • Tom Crotty, Director, Ineos Group, EPCA President *p1* • Nadine Dereza, Moderator *p3* *Keynote speeches* • Likely Scenarios on Horizon 2050 Jeremy Bentham, Vice President Global Business Environment, Shell International *p4* • Chemistry Paves the Road to Innovations Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF SE *p5* *Panel discussion* • Jeremy Bentham and Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer joined by Prof. Asit K. Biswas, Founder, Third World Centre for Water Management, Jeremy Rifkin, President, Foundation on Economic Trends, and Nadine Dereza, Panel moderator *p6* *DAY 2:Nine Billion People in 2050.* Development of Chemical Supply Chains Matching Nine Billion People’s Needs. *Introduction* • Phil Browitt, Chairman, Agility Chemicals, Chairman EPCA Supply Chain Programme Committee *p9* • Nadine Dereza, Moderator *p9* *Keynote speech* • Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health & Management, Columbia University, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban K-Moon *p10* *Panel discussion* • Jeffrey D. Sachs joined by Saleh Al-Shabnan, Project Executive, Supply Chain Management Project (EMDAD), General Manager Chemicals Supply Chain, Sabic, Michael Behrendt, Chairman of the Executive Board Hapag-Lloyd AG, Dr. Christoph Schmitz, Partner, McKinsey & Company, and Nadine Dereza, Panel moderator *p12* *CLOSING LUNCH:* *Nine Billion People in 2050.* • Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany (1998-2005) *p15*