Confronting the interconnection of chemical pollution and climate change

Abstract

Climate change and chemical pollution are interdependent planetary threats, but climate change mitigation efforts typically do not consider chemicals and materials. This may exacerbate chemical pollution and associated harm to human and environmental health. Because most chemicals and materials are currently derived from petrochemicals, the extraction of fossil fuels cannot be limited without transitioning chemical manufacturing to different carbon sources. However, simply changing the carbon source is insufficient and could exacerbate the biodiversity crisis. We propose a comprehensive strategy to address the interconnections between chemical pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss. This includes incentives for key actors to reduce the global production and consumption of chemicals and materials, to transition to chemicals and products that are safe and sustainable by design, to develop metrics and targets to assess progress, and to continuously evaluate and modify strategies based on performance metrics.