As a major enabler of clean water, efficient agriculture and medicine development, chemistry is at the heart of the advancements made in human health and wellbeing. Nevertheless, the chemical sector has a critical role to play not only in continuing their contributions but also in striving to eliminate potential negative impacts from the misuse of their products and from the sector’s own operations.

In support of the Paris Climate Agreement and UN SDGs, companies increasingly use Portfolio Sustainability Assessments (PSA) to proactively steer their overall product portfolios towards improved sustainability outcomes. Additionally, for several years, a number of leading chemical sector companies from within WBCSD’s membership have been engaged in advancing conversations around this concept. In this light, WBCSD published two documents supporting this direction: The PSA Framework in October 2017 and the PSA Methodology in October 2018.

Companies who have adopted PSA methods indicate that improved sustainability performance has resulted in tangible business benefits, such as:

1.Better decisions, more robust strategies2.Higher growth rate of more sustainable solutions3.Credible communication on sustainability benefits4.Stronger customer and stakeholder relationships5.Reduced risks6.Improved corporate image

Following the success of the PSA Framework and Methodology, the sector is now actively working on the following key priorities:

-Enhancing information sharing and best practice exchange amongst experts-Cross-fertilization and accelerating adoption within Chemical Companies-Reaching out to a wider audience (including other sectors)