By Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal, Director of Sustainable Development, American Chemical Society
Where has green and sustainable chemistry investment contributed to the advancement of the global sustainability goals? Where are the current funding gaps in investment? These are some of the questions that the ACS Green Chemistry Institute (GCI), with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
By Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal, Director of Sustainable Development, American Chemical Society
Where has green and sustainable chemistry investment contributed to the advancement of the global sustainability goals? Where are the current funding gaps in investment? These are some of the questions that the ACS Green Chemistry Institute (GCI), with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, is trying to uncover in an ongoing project. By analyzing data from awarded grants for applications towards the newly announced “Net Zero Game Changers”, as well as the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is possible to illustrate where green and sustainable chemistry investment may contribute to the advancement of societal goals and help to inform areas that may benefit from greater investment.
Using this research as a foundation for discussion, the ACS GCI and Moore Foundation held a workshop with funding agencies and foundations invested in green chemistry and engineering. The workshop, held on February 27, aimed to elucidate opportunities for public and private funders to contribute to assessing and achieving the UN SDGs and climate mitigation goals. Representatives from government agencies and public and private institutions came together to examine the current research investment in green and sustainable chemistry and to discuss how to identify gaps in the research funding landscape.
The perpetual identification of funding gaps is of interest to funders and policy makers. Simultaneously, it is critical for increasing investment in green and sustainable chemistry. The data analytics of grants are a promising path to an evidence-based approach that identifies funding gaps, but must still be informed by representative members of the scientific community. The data-driven approach ACS GCI is pursuing has potential to provide a useful lens into the intersection of existing funding and burgeoning application-driven fields.
ACS GCI will continue to explore data analysis and tools to accelerate interdisciplinary and collaborative research in green and sustainable chemistry. In addition, we will seek to connections between research funding and the demonstration of impact on communities which will be critical to further environmental justice efforts.
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