Sustainable Development

Green chemistry plays an important role in achieving sustainable development, and adopting its twelve principles is presented as the practical route to that goal. Sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs -- a definition that has continued to evolve to also emphasise protecting the world's resources for those future generations. In other words, sustainable development is not simply about meeting today's demand for goods, energy and materials; it is about meeting that demand in a way that does not deplete or damage the resource base that later generations will themselves depend on. Green chemistry contributes to this by redesigning chemical products and processes so that they use fewer non-renewable resources, generate less waste and cause less pollution, which is why the …