B20 Summit: Continental CEO Degenhart Advocates Research Funding Instead of Purchasing Incentives
- CEO Dr. Degenhart: “Innovation is the key to protecting our planet”
- Digitalization enables better use of resources
- Technology company sees Europe in a pioneering role
Berlin, May 3, 2017. Technology company Continental sees Europe in a pioneering role in the systematic development and implementation of innovations for protecting the environment and conserving resources. “With its large knowledge base and advanced technologies, Europe should assume the function of a role model,” said Chairman of the Continental Executive Board Dr. Elmar Degenhart on Wednesday at the B20, a dialog forum for economic experts from the G20 countries, held in Berlin. “Digitalization enables the G20 countries to implement the sustainability goals that they are aiming for with the greatest possible effect.”
Degenhart advocated innovation incentives instead of funding consumption: “Governments would be best able to drive forward the current transformation process in environmental protection and sustainability by promoting research into and development of innovative solutions, instead of thinking about purchasing incentives. We have only one planet and innovation is the key to protecting it: Experts predict that consumption of raw materials in 2050 will be double that of in 2015. For this reason, our planet’s limited resources must be used as efficiently as possible. It is here that the solutions that separate economic growth from the consumption of raw materials are important. This can only happen with the help of close worldwide collaboration and common platforms.”
The chairman of the Continental Executive Board noted that with regard to the future of mobility, the field has changed more quickly than ever before and will continue to change. “As a result, we anticipate a fundamental change in industries and markets over the next few years. Electrification, automation and digitalization are important aspects, in cars themselves, and far beyond this, too. Mobility, and the way in which it is supplied, is becoming safer, more efficient and more intelligent – and more sustainable in the best sense of the word.”
