By Muhammad Rafiq
DUBAI: KROHNE, one of the leading global manufacturers of process instrumentation, looks back upon its COP28 activity and looks forward to driving the just transition in light of learnings and resolutions formed the past two weeks, during the United Nation’s global climate change summit held under the presidency of H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, also Group CEO of ADNOC. A dense flurry of activity from 30 November until 12 December 2023 at Expo City Dubai and also in the surrounding city, COP28 lived its purpose and brought around 100000 people together from around the world to unite, act and deliver together. This platform has an increasingly important role in the global arena of energy and digital transformation and climate change discussions.
KROHNE has a long heritage in supporting automation and process control across multiple industries through precision engineered measurement equipment and technology and realizes its role in achieving net zero carbon emissions itself whilst also enabling its valued customers to do the same. One of the themes of COP28 and still requiring greater regulation on standards has been the area of measurement, whether in emissions monitoring, logistics around newer energy format such as hydrogen or the carbon capture and credit pricing space. KROHNE remains well positioned with its advanced metrology research and development to enable standards formulation greater clarity moving forwards.
EcoVadis-certified KROHNE was active throughout COP28, whether engaging as the German-Emirati Joint Council for Industry and Commerce (AHK) Sustainability Partner, participating as a member of the United Nations Global Compact UAE Chapter Network member or in other associations. KROHNE has also been heavily involved throughout 2023 in the International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA) group of industry leaders formed at COP27, the Alliance for Industry Decarbonisation (AFID).
Alongside industry peers such as Siemens Energy, TATA Steel, EDF, ABB, TAQA, Engie and many others, our global technical experts have contributed to a working group and white paper on the importance of green hydrogen, to be released to the public in the coming days. The day before on 5 December KROHNE leadership participated in a CEO roundtable in the Blue Zone, an area of COP28 reserved for country leaders, dedicated to defining progress and next steps of the global AFID group, culminating in a collective promise to cut emissions by over 50% by 2030.
KROHNE also participated as industry moderator in several sessions:
“Collaborative strategies – sustainable SMEs partnering with large corporates to tackle scope 3 challenges in the supply chain” was hosted by Masdar’s Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week as part of a broader SME-focused program on 6 December, where KROHNE participated alongside UPS, Green Touches, AESG and a UAE public sector regulatory advisor.
“Delivering a transparent transition: measurement and regulation for a sustainable future” – was hosted at the Heriot Watt University Climate Hub, where KROHNE participated alongside the AHK, Arthur D Little, 3M and a UAE public sector regulatory advisor.
Leveraging wider groups of influence, KROHNE was also fortunate to engage with a broad range of stakeholders and entities including Oxford University, Cambridge University, American Chambers of Commerce Dubai, Dubai Chambers, Cisco, Microsoft, Siemens, Engie, Time For Better, SustainUAE, Blackrock, Gulf Islamic Investments, Symphony, Energy Lab, Roland Berger, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Bureau Veritas, Gulf Cryo, Below Farm, Altaaqa Renewables and Tamgo.
KROHNE continues to drive the push towards accepted standards in measurement and offers the only certified flow computer for hydrogen applications currently on the market, which is seen as central to the measurement and therefore deployment of this new energy source. Also in development is a Hydrogen Purity Measurement solution based on precision ultrasonic flowmeters combined with pressure and temperature metering technologies, offering faster and cheaper purity measurement to our global customers. Based on evolving customer needs, our Marine division created the world-leading EcoMATE solution to ensure carbon emissions were tracked precisely, in line with the “Fit For 55” EU Regulation. KROHNE continues to invest in research and development to help support other high-emitting industries pre-empting impending carbon emission regulations.
Frank Janssens, Vice President, KROHNE Middle East and Africa, said: “KROHNE Group has been in operation for over a century and is proudly built on key values we still cherish today, such as our pioneering capabilities within a family-style environment. Industry today is crucial to the climate change conversation, generating over a quarter of carbon emissions around the world. We are proud to offer some of the best solutions to sustainable problems with our innovative thought process and precision engineered product portfolio. KROHNE’s renewed focus on increased connectivity, digitisation and a platform-agnostic approach coupled with our century-old reliability and safety is a combination most partners see great value in for continued efficient operations across all industry. I look forward to driving positive impact alongside our partners, collaborating to build a better tomorrow through efficient measurement solutions driving towards net zero. See you at COP29!”
