Managing chemicals for sustainable development

This research synthesis brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) examines the challenges of managing chemicals for sustainable development, focusing on the gap in chemical safety between developed and developing nations, the role of international agreements like SAICM, and the need for new hazard assessments to address planetary boundary threats.

• Global chemical production grew by more than 50% between 2000 and 2010, primarily due to increased demand in countries with economies in transition and developing countries.
• Chemical risks are distributed unequally both between and within countries, with poverty acting as a risk factor for exposure and socioeconomic circumstances correlating to chemical burdens in the body.
• Targeting the informal sector—including small-holder agriculture and small-scale mining—could lead to significant improvements in public and occupational health because these sectors often lack safety training and personal protection equipment.
• The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) provides a broader vision for national chemicals management than substance-specific agreements by focusing on multi-sectoral, cradle-to-grave solutions.
• There is a lack of an internationally agreed-upon method to measure progress toward the 2020 goal of sound chemicals management; existing SAICM indicators do not allow for an overall assessment of progress.
• Pollution from chemicals can negatively impact crop productivity, with China and India forecast to be among the most affected by ground-level ozone.
• Current management systems are challenged by chemicals that may exceed the planetary boundary of chemical pollution, necessitating the design of new hazard assessments from a planetary boundary perspective.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2014). Managing chemicals for sustainable development. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SynthesisBrief-Chemicals.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Managing chemicals for sustainable development. 2014. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SynthesisBrief-Chemicals.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Managing chemicals for sustainable development |date=2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SynthesisBrief-Chemicals.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2014managing, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Managing chemicals for sustainable development}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SynthesisBrief-Chemicals.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }