Chemicals and the Sustainable Development Goals
If you look at the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Agenda 2030, chemicals are not mentioned. They are only mentioned in some of the underlying targets. However, chemical development plays a critical role in almost all the goals, but they play a dual role. On the one hand they are helping us to achieve those goals, like using fertilizers to reach the SDG2 – Zero hunger. On the other hand, they are a risk for goals like SDG 3 – Good health and well-being, SDG14 – Life below water, or SDG15 – Life on land.
Do we need a new international Sustainable Development Goal about chemicals, similar to the Swedish goal of a “non-toxic environment”? This video is a shorted version, recorded at the International Science Festival in Gothenburg 2019. Participating are Anna Lennquist from ChemSec, Bethanie Carney Almroth from the University of Gothenburg, Magnus Nydén from Nouryon, and Thomas Backhaus and Åsa Arrhenius from the University of Gothenburg.