Ian Mannix
Cosmos newsroom
Scientists say chemistry practice and education will go through “a paradigm shift” following the signing of an international declaration in Sweden last week.
The Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future, signed on May 23 at the Nobel Prize Museum, urges scientists, industry, educators, students and policy makers to collaborate on implementing solutions “for human well-being while preserving and protecting the environment.”
Among other things the new charter says chemistry for the future should ensure the products of the science are safe and sustainable by design, eliminate the concept of waste, use non-depleting materials, and enable the generation, storage and transport of renewable energy.
“The chemistry of sustainability recognises that sustainability without innovation is impossible and innovation without sustainability would be ruinous.”
The international scientists behind the project acknowledge that chemistry has been vital to advancing human well-being: “…but at the same time, chemistry has caused unintentional harm to people and the planet.”
The Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future welcomes scientists and others working in chemistry to read, sign and spread the declaration, which maintains there are 5 essential elements needed for transformation:
1. The goals of reducing or eliminating harm to people and the planet must be integrated in chemical products and processes.
2. There is need to act now. Inaction and status quo are more dangerous for people and the planet than transition.
3. Teachers, students and practitioners of chemistry need to be trained to integrate health and sustainability in their work.
4. Chemical data and information must be fully available and accessible to all. There is need for transparency.
5. Government policies on the chemical enterprise must be aligned with sustainability and health.[IP1]
Professor Amanda Ellis, President of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute applauded the declaration, telling Cosmos that chemistry practice and education will go through a paradigm shift: “…from function and profit-driven to purpose-driven, and the purpose here is to deliver the desired functionality of compounds and materials while being benign to human health and the planet.”
Ellis says Australia has been actively involved in the global move towards green chemistry.
RACI praised Professor Colin Raston who has been an advocate for green chemistry since 1997,” Ellis saying he has been:“…inspiring a generation of Australian chemists including the late Professor Janet Scott, and Professors Roy Jackson, Milton Hearn, and Tony Patti.”
Monash University established a Green Chemistry Centre in 2000.
Ellis says the green chemistry community in Australia has grown steadily over the past 2 decades. In 2022, Professor Qin Li from Griffith University, together with Raston, launched the RACI Green and Sustainable Chemistry National Group (GASC) at the RACI National Congress.
“In 2023, GASC held its first national conference, attracting more than 200 participants. GASC has now become the official Green and Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Division (GASCE) of the RACI, with the founders of Green Chemistry, Professors Paul Anastas and John Warner, playing an integral role in its formation,” she says.
“One of RACI’s core missions is to support and drive changes in chemistry education. Our GASCE Division is committed to embedding the principles of green chemistry into tertiary education, ensuring that the next generation of chemists are equipped to contribute to a more sustainable future.”
Raston is now professor of Clean Technology in the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University.
“This declaration is defining for the survival of humanity,” he says, “…and to improve our lives, for living without impacting on the environment, for all of humanity to embraced with the chemical science driving the transformation.”
Anastas, professor of chemistry at Yale University and the driving force behind the work, said at the unveiling of the document: “The essence of The Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future is the imperative of transforming invention into impact by unleashing the power of chemistry to improve people’s lives by implementing it at scale now.”
Professor Ben Feringa of the University of Groningen, Nobel laureate in chemistry 2016 and signatory of the declaration who also attended the launch event, says the Stockholm declaration is an urgent call to join forces to re-invent chemistry in order to build our sustainable future. “Chemistry as the creating and central science will make the difference in society and industry in the years ahead, teaching our young talents and providing breakthrough discoveries for sustainable innovations.
What is green chemistry?
