Call to Action Now: The Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future

Abstract

The Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future presents a forward-looking vision and call for collective action, which is urgently needed today for the chemical sciences to drive sustainable development, involving all sectors, from science, industry, education and politics. It addresses important challenges such as environmental pollution and resource depletion, but also concrete ways to implement solutions for a better and more sustainable and ethical future. For Sustainability & Circularity NOW, the first journal to sign the Stockholm Declaration, the publication of this call to action is an important step that needs to be widely disseminated to our community and beyond.

Keywords

Stockholm declaration - Chemistry for the future - Collective action - Communication

One of the most important current initiatives this year involving not only the chemistry community but also all sectors of society and countries was the publication of the Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future. As stated in its introduction, prominent and key figures from science, industry, education, and politics met at the Nobel Museum for the official launch of this vanguard initiative. The launch event, hosted by the Nobel Symposium organizing committee and supported by the Centre for Circular and Sustainable Systems at Stockholm University, aimed to highlight the fundamental role of chemistry in addressing global challenges through ethical, sustainable, and future-oriented positive solutions (www.Stockholm-Declaration.org).

What makes this declaration so compelling is that it is not a call for revolution, nor is it radical or unrealistic. Instead, it confronts a simple but striking truth: the ingenuity of chemists and chemical engineers can achieve far more than what we currently deliver. Five central themes were addressed: (i) integrate sustainability into design, (ii) act now, (iii) reform education, (iv) promote transparency, and (v) align policy, each offering concrete and feasible recommendations supported by implementation strategies and identification of key institutions and partners. The declaration outlines essential priorities across science, education, policy, business, and global engagement, but importantly resists one-size-fits-all prescriptions, recognizing that change must be tailored to local context. It does not dictate but invites us all to commit to transformation within our own spheres considering our socioeconomic context and leveraging our resources and talent.

Proactively and with a clear sense of urgency, the Stockholm Declaration is a strong and unified call to action, considering the full potential of chemistry to build a more just, sustainable, and resilient world for current and future generations. All stakeholders and members of the global community are invited to read and sign the declaration, joining in this shared commitment to a better future. Chemistry built the modern world, from materials to medicines, from energy to industry, and the Declaration is a bold call to honor that legacy not by clinging to legacy products or processes, but by reviving the spirit of innovation that first shaped them. Sustainability & Circularity NOW and Thieme were among the first journals and publishers to sign and support this global movement.

Yet, as the Declaration reminds us, the transformative power of chemistry remains under-realized. The gap between what the chemical sciences can deliver and what is being implemented at scale may well define our century. Countless innovations in green synthesis, renewable feedstocks, and closed-loop material systems demonstrate what is possible, yet too few transition from laboratory to real-world impact. The call to “act now” is thus both moral and practical: scaling sustainable chemistry from concept to practice must become a core measure of success. Chemistry can no longer celebrate discovery alone; it must reward demonstration and deployment. Embedding clear pathways for translation, supported by cross-sectoral partnerships and policy frameworks, is essential to turn invention into societal transformation.

A key element of this transformation is education. Clause III explicitly calls for reforming chemistry education to embed system thinking and sustainability principles at every level of training. This must go beyond adding sustainability modules to existing curricula: it requires a re-envisioning of how we teach chemistry itself. Future chemists should be equipped not only to design new molecules, but also to consider entire material life cycles, resource flows, and socio-economic contexts. Integrating circular metrics, life-cycle analysis, and principles of regenerative design will empower the next generation to connect chemical innovation to societal and planetary wellbeing. Institutions such as the University of Amsterdam, with its emerging focus on Circular Chemistry, exemplify how such educational reform can be operationalized through transdisciplinary research and industry collaboration.

Transparency, as highlighted in Clause IV, is another cornerstone. High-quality, accessible, interoperable chemical data are essential not only for innovation but also for public trust. Open databases covering chemical hazards, recyclability, and material flows would enable better decision-making, accelerate research, and strengthen accountability. In an era of increasing public scrutiny, whether over PFAS, microplastics, other anthropogenic novel entities, or waste, chemistry must lead to openness and honesty. The Declaration’s call for transparency is therefore also a call for trust: rebuilding confidence that chemistry is working for, not against, society and the planet.

Finally, Clause V stresses policy alignment. Regulations, subsidies, and tax incentives must reinforce safe, circular, and sustainable chemistry while disincentivizing wasteful and hazardous practices. This shift is not punitive but enabling; it creates the conditions for innovation to thrive within ecological and ethical boundaries. Aligning economic, industrial, and governmental agendas with the goals of the Declaration would make sustainable chemistry not the exception but the default.

The Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future is fully aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), positioning chemistry as a catalyst for achieving them all. The document recognizes that chemistry is crosscutting by nature, integral to clean energy, food security, health, materials, biodiversity and ecosystems preservation, and climate resilience, and highlights the central role of communication in reshaping public understanding of chemistry’s positive potential.

Chemistry once reinvented the world. It is time to do so again, with transparency, circularity, and purpose. The Stockholm Declaration provides both a compass and a collective mandate. The future of chemistry will not be defined by the molecules, materials, and products we make, but by the systems we sustain. We can. We must. We will. Now.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Publication History

Article published online:
31 October 2025