Volume 45, Issue 2

It will still take a few more months before I can officially welcome you to IUPAC|CHAINS 2023, but since the preparations are already in full swing, it feels like we are getting close to the event. Behind the scenes we work hard to receive you all in the World Forum in The Hague from 20-25 August this year. We feel honoured that the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV) was given the opportunity to host this year’s IUPAC World Chemistry Congress. To create a better national exposure, we joined forces with the Dutch Research Council (NWO), host of the annual CHAINS chemistry congress in the Netherlands, to ensure that we can turn this event into a great success!

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), in its Resolution 5/8, decided on the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution Prevention (IPCP) [1]. This resolution stated that a science-policy panel should be established to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste, prevent pollution, and to convene—subject to the availability of resources—an ad hoc Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG). The OEWG started its work in 2022, with the ambition of completing it by the end of 2024 [2]. The next steps for this OEWG include the establishment of the panel, the selection of panel members, and the development of the assessment process. The panel members will be selected based on their expertise in the field of chemical pollution and their ability to provide a balanced and objective assessment of the state of chemical pollution. The assessment process will include a comprehensive review of the scientific literature, as well as input from stakeholders.

Imagine yourself a chemist confronted with the use of chemical weapons during World War IO. Or a citizen living in Bhopal, India, perhaps having negotiated the siting of the plant in your city as a politician or an employee bringing home a good wage working at Union Carbide’s methyl isocyanate plant. Or perhaps you are a student in 2023 needing to make informed choices about climate engineering or the rapid full-scale extraction of rare-earth materials to mitigate the climate crisis. What is the right thing to do in each of these scenarios? How can the study of the moral values, norms, judgments, and virtues relevant to chemistry equip students to deeply reflect about the practice of chemistry and guide them to make informed and responsible choices about their behaviour as professionals?

Since 25 September 2022, the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) are jointly organizing the Global Conversation on Sustainability (GCS, https://www.gcs-day.org) in an annual fashion. This day has been chosen because it marks the anniversary of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) [1].

In the framework of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (UNESCO IYBSSD July 2022—2023), the Italian IUPAC NAO organized an open and educational event titled Alessandro Volta’s heritage and electrochemistry to respond to the great challenges of the future. Designed to highlight the role of chemistry as a fundamental science to respond to big challenges, the day event was organized in collaboration with two important scientific Italian institutions including the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and the University of Insubria, with the support of IUPAC and its Committee on CHEMical Research Applied to World Needs (CHEMRAWN) (IUPAC project #2022-018-1-021), and in collaboration with the International Science Council.

On 6 February 2023, the IUPAC Division of Chemistry and the Environment, Advisory Committee on Crop Protection Chemistry announced that the 2023 IUPAC International Award for Advances in Harmonized Approaches to Crop Protection Chemistry will be presented to Keith R. Solomon, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph in Guelph, Canada.

To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science this 11 February IUPAC announced the awardees of the IUPAC 2023 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering:

Green chemistry has become a focus for cutting-edge research into sustainable technologies. These technologies may reduce or even eliminate the production and use of hazardous substances in mining and in the design, manufacture and application of chemical products, and may also lead to energy savings, a better environment and improved human health.

The OIML and the BIPM are pleased to announce that the Resource Website is now live: https://www.worldmetrologyday.org/

The National Research Foundation of Ukraine (NRFU) is seeking to expand its pool of international reviewers for their proposals, which are in all areas of fundamental research (including humanities). Currently, they have only 1,000 foreign reviewers and at least need to double them.

IUPAC is saddened to learn the recent passing of the following members and fellows:

Provisional Recommendations are preliminary drafts of IUPAC recommendations. These drafts encompass topics including terminology, nomenclature, and symbols. Following approval, the final recommendations are published in IUPAC’s journal Pure and Applied Chemistry (PAC) or in IUPAC books. During the commentary period for Provisional Recommendations, interested parties are encouraged to suggest revisions to the recommendation’s author. https://iupac.org/recommendations/under-review-by-the-public/