14 ways to teach sustainability in chemistry
Add sustainability to your lessons with activities, ideas and curriculum-linked resources developed by teachers and based on the UN's sustainable development goals
Tackle poverty in chemistry lessons
Link the science you teach in your classroom to poverty and inequality targeted by the UN’s SDGs
Link global food security to your lessons on fertilisers
Use these resources and activities to link UN sustainable development goal 2 to your practical lessons on rates of reaction and the use of fertilisers
Chemists’ role in the fight against disease
Use these tips and resources to link UN sustainable development goal 3 and biology topics on health and disease to your lessons on anticancer drugs
Equality, education and science
Easy-to-implement ways to link these topics to your lessons on energy sources, water resources, nanochemistry, health and climate change
Add sustainable management of water to your existing lessons
Quick and simple tips and activities to link UN sustainable development goal 6 to separation techniques, potable water and more
Slot sustainable energy into your teaching
Useful tips and activities to link UN sustainable development goal 7 to your lessons on energy, hydrogen, sustainability and esterification
Give context to your teaching of biofuels
Use these tips and activities to link UN sustainable development goal 8 to lessons on fermentation and bioethanol
Tie sustainable industry into your chemistry topics
Complement your teaching of reaction kinetics, catalysts and equilibrium with UN sustainable development goal 9
Give context to air pollution, materials and nanochemistry
Use these tips and activities to link UN sustainable development goal 11 on sustainable cities to your lessons
Teach your students about sustainable production and consumption
Easy ways to bring UN sustainable development goal 12 into your teaching of life cycle assessments, polymers and batteries
Include the impacts of climate change in your teaching
Use the real-world effects of climate change to introduce the UN’s sustainable development goal 13 into your existing teaching
Add ocean acidification to your existing lessons
Use these tips to link UN sustainable development goal 14 to your lessons on dissolved ions, acids and the pH scale
Sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems
From synthesising ammonia to keeping your school laboratory green, here’s how to link UN Sustainable development goal 15 to your teaching
Teach justice and cooperation through chemistry
Link forensic science and the Covid-19 pandemic to your lessons on instrumental analysis, separation techniques, data interpretation and health with UN sustainable development goals 16 and 17
Browse resources by age level
14–16 years
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16–18 years
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About this series
Our future depends on making sustainable development a reality. Now it’s easier to make it a part of your teaching.
Based on the UN’s sustainable development goals, Sustainability in chemistry brings together tips, ideas and curriculum-linked resources to help you weave sustainability into your lessons.
Enhance your students’ scientific skills and build their understanding of key topics in chemistry, while engaging with urgent issues shaping our world, from ocean acidification to food inequality.
Related resources
Discover more articles and resources to help you explore the chemistry of climate change and sustainability in your classroom.
Composite decking can capture carbon dioxide
Could our choice of patio decking help reduce the global warming effects of building materials?
Using polluting red mud for greener metal production
Transforming toxic mud into iron in a breakthrough for steelmaking sustainability
Life cycle assessment of fast-food containers
Examining the environmental impact of single-use takeaway packaging