Takeaways from the RSB Annual Conference

Vision. Collaboration. Scale. Scale. Scale. After a week in Geneva at the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) annual conference, these are the words that have stuck with us.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) has proven how innovative business models and collaboration have the power to radically accelerate the transition, shifting the landscape for sustainable fuels. This year, discussions focused on a key question: how do we scale solutions that work? Credible solutions exist, but the market structures to connect them are still in development.

From a Versus Acta perspective, three themes stood out:

• Scale requires aggregated, long-term demand
  Many low-carbon projects in chemicals and materials are stuck waiting for offtake, while individual companies struggle to commit alone. Pooling demand, including from medium-sized buyers, is a key practical way to unlock bankable projects.

  
  

• Scale requires models that work across value chains, not just within them
  As sustainable technologies and business models mature and scale in some sectors, such as sustainable aviation fuels with Book & Claim, there is growing focus on how the learnings can be applied more broadly, to other technologies and value chains. Doing this well means developing models that are interoperable and grounded in strong governance, so that they can scale across sectors rather a landscape of fragmented of bespoke solutions.

  
  

• Scale is next insetting frontier
  More companies want to invest directly in decarbonisation within their own value chains, rather than offset their emissions. This raises impact, but also complexity, making trusted market infrastructure essential to take supply chain decarbonization to the next level.

The RSB provides a unique and needed space at the forefront of standard-setting and business model innovation, bringing everyone across sectors and value chain stages around the same table.

We were inspired to see the collaboration, courage and enthusiasm demonstrated by our colleagues in attendance. As a new member, we are so thrilled to keep working on how these models can scale into chemicals and materials.

We are thankful to the RSB team and community for a great event, and the candid and highly energizing conversations.