On November 24, AmCham held its traditional Going for Gold Dinner at the Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam. This year’s edition was very special as it was Thanksgiving Day. Huibert Vigeveno, Downstream Director at Shell, was the keynote speaker and captivated the guests with an insightful speech on how Shell plans to reach its climate goals while meeting the world’s energy needs.
Following the opening remarks by AmCham President Jasper van Ouwerkerk, Clare Black, General Manager Sales EMEAI at Delta Air Lines, gave a speech in which she described the airline’s Thanksgiving initiative. Delta brought a suitcase which allowed guests to include a note expressing their gratitude for something in their life. For every note placed in the suitcase, Delta would donate 1 kg of non-perishable food to the Voedselbank.
Later on the evening, after making a few remarks, guest of honor U.S. Ambassador Razdan Duggal introduced Jorian Hamster, Senior Associate at DLA Piper, who negotiated at COP27 on behalf of the Republic of Georgia. He explained how in recent weeks in Sharm Al Sheikh, Egypt, more than 200 countries have literally and figuratively conducted their climate negotiations in a race against time.
Afterwards, Huibert Vigeveno delivered his keynote speech, which was followed by a brief Q&A. He discussed how, despite these unprecedented times (the Ukrainian conflict, energy and supply crisis and rising costs of living), there is still an urgent need for energy transition. He also acknowledged that the world will still need oil and gas for decades. He furthermore referenced to Shell's goal to become a net-zero emissions energy company by 2050 and that key to this is encouraging collaboration to further the energy transition (biofuels, hydrogen, electrification, carbon capture) and touched of specific EU challenges e.g. energy security.
At the end of the evening, Delta Air Lines revealed that their initative raised €7.500 for the Voedselbank.
For a photo impression, please click here.
AmCham expresses its sincere gratitude to keynote speaker Huibert Vigeveno, guest of honor U.S. Ambassador Razdan Duggal, event partners Delta and DLA Piper, speakers Jorian Hamster and Clare Black, table sponsors Loyens & Loeff, Salesforce, Simmons & Simmons, and the Amstel Hotel for their support and contribution to this year’s Going for Gold Dinner.
