To achieve climate neutrality, as envisaged in the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal, the energy-intensive process industries play a key role. However, shifting their energy base to non-fossil sources and to reduce non-energy related emissions, is a major challenge. For this transformation to succeed, new forms of cooperation between industry, society and politics are needed. Next to a policy mix including marked-based instruments (e.g., the ETS), faster planning processes and public investments in infrastructure are necessary. Moreover, policies should as well accompany “ex-innovation” processes. For process industries, this means that in addition to product and process innovation and improving market access, they need to proactively engage with their communities.