COP26: Michelin’s Dundee partnership approach a ‘blueprint’ for industrial transformation

With global leaders gathered in Glasgow for the COP26 climate and sustainability summit, ecological issues have become a focus of recent media coverage. During the summit’s Transforming Industrial Sites to a Net Zero Future event, Michelin chief executive Florent Menegaux explained how the 32-hectare ex-Michelin tyre factory in Dundee (Baldovie) is now operating as Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc, a partnership between Michelin, the Scottish Government and Dundee City Council. Specifically, Menegaux set out how the transformation of the company’s former manufacturing site in Dundee sets a blueprint for a greener future at industrial sites and stressed that the venture could not have been launched by Michelin alone:

“We have something that I hope will become a benchmark for a sustainable transformation of industrial areas worldwide. We have created a dedicated organisation to attract new types of industries. It is our goal to create long-lasting jobs in the same area.”

MSIP is now attracting companies working in sustainable sectors, including low carbon energy transport and mobility. As part of his visit to Scotland, Florent Menegaux travelled to the site to see how the development is helping to restore the region’s economic dynamic, with a focus on a greener future.

Menegaux was talking at COP26 with Cabinet Secretary Kate Forbes, where the Net Zero Industrial Cluster Exchange (NICE) was launched, which is jointly funded by the Scottish Government and Michelin.

The project will bring together governments and industry internationally to share policy practice and learning. The Exchange will be hosted by the European Policies Research Centre at the University of Strathclyde.

Later at COP26, Michelin representatives – including Christian Metzger, plant manager at the former Michelin tyre plant in Bamberg (Germany) – took part in a round table discussion, looking at opportunities and case study examples of the transformation of urban and industrial sites from across Europe.

In Bamberg, Michelin is also aiming to convert the former German tyre plant into a Clean-Tech Innovation Park, providing high quality jobs that actively contribute to the environment.

COP26 also provided a platform for Michelin to discuss its “all sustainable” approach, centred around the needs of People, Profit and Planet, where Menegaux called for governments to set goals and boundaries, with companies finding the concrete technical solutions. Across its global business, the company has set out ambitious goals – including being carbon neutral by 2050 – and has signed up to the Science Based Target Initiative. Michelin also welcomes the 1.5 degree global temperature goal and is calling on the regulatory framework to be implemented to ensure it is achieved.