3rd Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference

As the world’s population edges towards 9 billion, the strain on our planet’s resources is progressively increasing. In both the developed and developing world there is a growing demand for food, manufactured goods and improved access to clean water and fuel. At the same time the related flows of substances, materials and products are growing in quantitative and qualitative respect. Additionally, it has become obvious that the products of human manufacture, even those produced to benefit society, often have negative effects on human health and the environment.

The United Nations General Assembly has addressed these challenges in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which have been adopted in 2015. A closer look shows that to meet these goals chemistry will play an important role. Also related to this is that the UN Environmental Assembly-2 (UNEA-2) has named sustainable chemistry as an important building block within and beyond sound chemicals management. Contributions of chemistry, both science and industries, are on the one hand indispensable to meet the SDGs. On the other hand, such efforts will only be successful if they contribute in a sustainable and not just green manner to sustainability. To understand much better the opportunities, the potentials, and pitfalls of green and sustainable chemistry on the different levels of science and society is an urgent and rewarding matter.

What makes this conference unique and outstanding from many others with similar name that it does not only provide a forum for very closely chemistry related topics such as synthesis and technical aspects of chemistry and its products, but the broader context that is necessary to enable in the long term viable and globally applicable contributions of chemistry to the SDGs. The conference therefore aims to provide a forum for participants from academia and industry, from authorities and other institutions to address these challenges in a broad unique manner the latest developments across the broad and diverse fields of Green and Sustainable Chemistry.

Abstracts on green and sustainable chemistry related topics that directly relate to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals are particularly welcome.

Topics include:

• Bioresources – new applications and new capabilities
• Inorganic resources – sustainable use of critical resources and materials
• Waste reduction, waste capture and recycling – examples, opportunities and limitations
• New molecules, materials and products – targeted design for sustainability
• Organic synthesis – recent green developments
• Catalysis – recent developments in bio catalysis, organic and inorganic catalysis
• Photochemistry –  photocatalysis, synthesis and solar chemistry
• Renewable energy –  conversion and storage
• Green and sustainable pharmacy
• Environmental science and sustainable chemistry
• Cleaner production – legislation and sustainable chemistry
• The UN Sustainable Development Goals and sustainable chemistry
• Industry and sustainable chemistry – focus on start-ups
• New business models
• Circular economy and sustainable chemistry
• Education and sustainable chemistry

Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge

Another unique feature of this conference will be the Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. Projects can be in any field of Green or Sustainable Chemistry so long as they are applicable for use in developing countries. The top five candidates will be invited to this conference to make presentations to the panel of judges. The winners will be selected from these five finalists and an award ceremony will be held at the end of the conference. The winning project in the challenge will receive EUR 50,000; the winner of the second prize will receive EUR 25,000.