Enter the new Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge

After 5 successful editions of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge, and thousands of proposals from around the world, we are proud to re-launch as the Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge. Climate change is the most important challenge affecting the future of our planet and we must take action. Chemical sciences play a critical role in developing a sustainable future: whether it’s is CO2 reduction and utilization, cleaner production, energy conversion and storage, entire lifecycles of chemical products, or waste reduction.

The Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal 13 Climate Action – which underscores the need to “[…] promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities”.

With a new focus on Climate Action, the Challenge also supports SDG5 Gender Equality, recognizing the pivotal role that women play in combating climate change. Projects submitted to the Challenge must integrate a gender dimension (such as addressing the role of women in adapting to climate shifts and participating in policy-making and leadership roles) into their projects.

How to enter the Challenge

Before submitting your proposal, make sure to read the full description of the Challenge and the criteria with which the proposals will be evaluated. The winning projects will receive a prize of €25,000 each. The winners will be announced at the 6th Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference, 16-18 November 2021.

The Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge is jointly run by the Elsevier Foundation and Elsevier’s chemistry journals team. The Challenge is open to individuals and organizations whose projects use green and sustainable chemistry solutions to tackle some of the developing world’s greatest sustainability challenges. 

Stories from the winners

The new  Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge is a continuation of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge, which ran 2016-2020. Over the past five years, we received thousands of proposals from over 70 countries, demonstrating how green and sustainable chemistry offers tangible ways to support the UN SDGs .

The projects encouraged sustainability science, international collaboration and scientific exchange in the Global South – creating visibility for an emerging field in the chemistry world. Our winners worked on projects ranging from natural biopesticide in Malaysia to ecorestoration in Nigeria, from natural preservatives in Nepal to butterfly attractant in India and wastewater treatments in Jordan. Read their stories.