Building Resiliency with Sustainable Chemistry: A Message from the Change Chemistry Team

April 25, 2025

in Community, In the News,

When it comes to transitioning to chemicals and materials that are safer and more sustainable – we need to “keep our eye on the prize.”

At Change Chemistry, we remain resolutely committed to our mission of catalyzing the development, commercialization, scale and adoption of safer and more sustainable chemistry technologies.

Given today’s uncertainties, we want to remind our members and prospective members that we are here to be a resource for you. We’re here to continue supporting your sustainable chemistry initiatives and equipping your champions with new relationships, state-of-the-art knowledge, and best-in-class tools — and we understand that doing so in today’s financial climate may require a more flexible approach. We’re committed to working creatively with you to maintain or secure your membership so that this critical work can continue without disruption.

To say that we are living through some interesting times is an understatement. Markets are becoming increasingly unpredictable; investors are uneasy, business priorities are shifting, and corporate leaders are responding to increasing demands from investors to protect markets and shareholder value. What does this mean for the transition to safer and more sustainable chemicals? A transition – like we have repeatedly said – that will take steadfast commitment and patient investment. A transition that will safeguard long-term business resilience, competitiveness and brand value but may not positively affect next quarter’s earnings. In today’s economic climate, it means a temptation to refocus human and capital resources away from sustainable chemistry transition initiatives towards projects with nearer term potential. We cannot succumb to this temptation. Such shifts will not only slow down progress but also place companies at a competitive disadvantage in the future, given increasing market, regulatory, and shareholder demands for safer and more sustainable chemicals. We know that changing chemistry takes time – measured in multiple years and decades – with sustained policy, investment, and market commitments. While we may need to change our narrative or our approach with a changing economic and policy climate, this does not mean abandoning long term objectives.

Think of it this way: When dealing with any personal crisis, the last thing you should do is lose sight of your mental and physical well-being. Your ability to navigate a crisis, overcome it and grow beyond it is ultimately dependent on your health and well-being. The same holds for a company facing a crisis. A company’s ability to negotiate and overcome crises and ultimately grow beyond them relies heavily on that company’s health – profitability, inventiveness, resilience and contingent risks. For those that have engaged with our community, you know that a commitment to sustainable chemistry is a key pillar of a company’s long-term health. The data are clear and our own studies highlight the strong link between safe and sustainable chemistry and corporate health. Although in the face of today’s crises there is temptation for business leaders to de-emphasize commitments to safer and sustainable chemistry – and some are already beginning to do this – it’s the last thing that should be done. Political, economic, and R&D cycles are ever changing, and we must play the long game.

Stay committed to sustainable chemistry scale and adoption by engaging in our projects and events:

Scaling Sustainable Solvents Working Group: Building alignment across the value chain to accelerate the transition to safer solvents in consumer facing products.
Future Fit Materials: Supporting the development, scale and adoption of an alternative chemical or material that, within a specific application, is inherently safer and more sustainable than the incumbent. Join our webinar on May 8th to learn more!
Policy Offerings: Our Transatlantic Incentives Working Group, US Policy Idea Exchange, and EU Policy Working Group support the advancement of policy incentives to accelerate the development, commercialization, and scale of sustainable chemistry products and processes.
Supporting Champions: Change Chemistry supports individual champions within organizations through peer learning and expert led trainings on how sustainable chemistry benefits their job function and how to communicate this value across an organization. Stay tuned for more information about an upcoming webinar!
Events: We host and collaborate on several in-person, virtual, and hybrid events throughout the year, including webinars and our annual Innovators Roundtable.

We would like to stress that we are adaptable and willing to work creatively with you to renew or secure memberships in the face of this challenging financial climate. The Change Chemistry team looks forward to navigating these “interesting times” with you to make sure that we don’t lose the momentum we have built. We are confident that if we stay focused and stay committed, we will come out of this stronger, safer and more sustainable.