From the mobile phone in your pocket to the back of a bus, batteries are everywhere and will only become more present in everyday life. The global lithium-ion battery market exceeded US $ 150bn in 2025, an increase of more than 20 % from 2024 according to the International Energy Agency.

Demand for more sustainable energy and backup power is growing and expected to bring the battery market with it.

CATL is the world’ s biggest battery manufacturer, creating energy storage systems for EVs, data centres and beyond. It held more than 39 % of the global battery market in 2025 and reached production capacity of 772 GWh, with 321GWh under construction.

While batteries can support sustainability for many industries, Dennis Pan is in charge of making CATL’ s batteries themselves more sustainable. As Chief Sustainability Officer, his role is to ensure that sustainability is integrated from strategy to execution across research and development, manufacturing, the supply chain and the full product lifecycle.

“ I have been deeply involved in the lithium-ion battery industry for 14 years, starting my career in supply chain management,” Dennis explains.

“ That experience is the most valuable asset in my current ESG role – I have always believed that you can only make ESG practical and impactful if you truly understand every link in the value chain and the specific pain points of upstream and downstream partners.”

22 July 2026