The Power of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Research

I 2015, the United Nations (UN) unveiled an ambitious plan, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aimed at providing guidelines, applicable universally to all nations, for equitable and responsible development, respectful of humans and ecosystems. The SDGs plan sets a clear agenda to be achieved by 2030 (Agenda 2030), composed of 17 goals and 169 targets, that promotes economic growth, environmental protection, social inclusion, and human well-being. This framework has been adopted by many governmental agencies, foundations, and companies in order to articulate specific actions in the broader context of sustainable development. The global scientific community has also established connections to the SDGs, highlighting the central role that sustainable chemistry and engineering must play to realize them. In particular, the SDGs are a powerful way to focus on how chemicals are used. The central role and impact of advanced technologies on global well-being and sustainability are further recognized by the declaration of a United Nations International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development in 2022. Time-bound action based on specific policies in different regions is critical for achieving Agenda 2030. For example, the successes of India, China, and Brazil, among the most populous countries, in achieving the SDGs will hugely contribute to the global outcomes. Efforts are underway to quantify progress, such as the SDG India Index. Directed actions to achieve the SDGs will be region specific. For example, it has been suggested that combating environmental pollution will be key in achieving the SDGs in China. Advances in science, technology, and education are critical to successfully address the various challenges and achieve the SDGs. Within ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (ACS SCE), we encourage authors to connect their research to the SDGs (Figure 1), identifying societal, environmental, and healthrelated benefits within submitted manuscripts where appropriate. The editors of ACS SCE are currently publishing a series of editorials on effective practices to incorporate sustainability assessments in submitted papers. We believe that the SDGs offer an opportunity to assess reported discoveries in a uniform and easily recognizable way. Specifically, sustainability advances reported in manuscripts can be used to benchmark progress against published 2030 SDG targets. This approach provides a framework to guide and trigger advances in sustainable chemistry and engineering, in a way similar to the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and the 12 Principles of Green Engineering. It must be noted that all these frameworks call for a holistic view of sustainability, whereby advances should lead to progress in all criteria, not in just one or a few at the expense of others. We encourage authors to adopt such an approach when critically assessing their reported advances. We also welcome perspective-type manuscripts on the topic of the SDGs in the context of chemistry and engineering research, education, chemistry enterprise, public agencies, etc. While several such articles have appeared since the launch of the SDGs, the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is reinforcing the urgency to work toward these goals. COVID19 has had a major impact on human health and well-being (Goal 3) globally, yet the difference in the abilities of nations to effectively respond to the pandemic is revealing disparities across the globe in a number of SDG areas such as poverty (Goal 1), hunger (Goal 2), education (Goal 4), clean water and sanitation (Goal 6), and economic growth (Goal 8). Our ability to produce and consume responsibly has been drastically affected by disrupted supply chains, impaired mobility for people and goods, and increased reliance on disposables (Goal 12). The use of disposable masks, alongside already widespread use of single use plastics, is impacting habitats both on land and in the ocean (Goals 14 and 15). Some governments have seized this opportunity to cast ambitious plans for a post pandemic economic recovery to provide a boost to clean and affordable energy (Goal 7),