How chemistry contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, United Nations (UN) member states adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a simple promise: Leave No One Behind. Central to this promise are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “A blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030.”

There are 17 SDGs, ranging from combatting world hunger to fostering peace, protecting life on land and in the sea, and building partnerships. We asked members of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry‘s International Advisory Board to highlight ways in which the field of chemistry is helping us rise to the challenges set by the SDGs.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

SDG 3 aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. There are 13 targets to meet for this goal, demonstrating the breadth of actions to be taken. Intertwined in many of these targets is the continued development of medicines.

“Antibiotics are largely responsible for the dramatic increases in life expectancies seen in the 20th century,” explains Professor Nathaniel Martin, who works at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands.

Unfortunately for us, bacteria are keeping abreast of our advances, evolving mechanisms to protect themselves against medication designed to combat infections. “Antibiotics are a cornerstone of modern medicine, but increasing rates of resistance threaten the long-term viability of clinically used antibiotics,” says Martin…

This story can be read in full at Canadian Science Publishing.