The overlooked role of green chemistry in climate adaptation

Green chemistry is usually discussed as a way to prevent climate change: reducing industrial emissions, using less energy and replacing carbon-intensive materials.

Its role in adapting to climate change is less visible.

Yet many consequences of a warming climate are also chemical problems.

• Water becomes scarcer or more saline.

• Pollutants become harder to manage when communities have fewer usable sources.

• Drought and heavy rainfall affect soils, crops and the materials available for construction.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change opens in new tab/window(IPCC) estimates that roughly half the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity during at least part of the year. It also finds that climate change has already reduced water and food security, with the greatest effects often falling on communities with fewer resources to respond.Chemistry cannot resolve those pressures alone. It can provide practical ways to treat water, recover waste, protect materials and make constrained resources more useful.

Water treatment is climate adaptation

Water-related responses account for around 60% of documented climate adaptation. Most focus on areas such as water management, storage, irrigation and soil-moisture conservation. The IPCC also identifies access to potable water and protection of water and sanitation systems as effective adaptation measures.

In Jordan, Prof. Ramia Al Bakain approached the problem through wastewater chemistry.Her research developed a low-cost membrane made with parsley, a widely available local plant, to remove toxic metals from hazardous medical and industrial wastewater. The treated water could then be reused in agriculture.The approach connected several needs: reducing exposure to pollution, conserving scarce freshwater and supporting food production. Early backing came through the Elsevier Foundation Chemistry for Climate Action Challengeopens in new tab/window.

Al Bakain’s work has since expanded into interdisciplinary research on water, food and agricultural security across the Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa.

Discover The Elsevier Foundationopens in new tab/window

Materials can also strengthen resilience

In Sri Lanka, Prof. Thilini Mudiyanselage and Dr. Amila Jeewandara are developing construction sheets from sawdust and natural rubber latex.

The process uses waste from timber mills and is designed to operate without advanced machinery, making it more accessible to smaller manufacturers while reducing demand for virgin timber. Its adaptation value is practical. Construction materials that rely on imported inputs, costly equipment or vulnerable supply chains may become harder to obtain during climate and economic disruption. A locally manufactured alternative can widen the options available to communities and businesses. The project was selected from 285 proposals to the 2026 Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge.

Good adaptation does more than one job

The IPCC finds that adaptation can support agricultural productivity, health, food security, livelihoods and biodiversity alongside reducing climate risk. It also cautions that interventions work best when they fit their local context and avoid creating new vulnerabilities.

This helps explain the value of chemistry developed around materials already in use. Such approaches begin with practical questions:

• Which resources are locally available?

• What equipment can realistically be maintained?

• How will the process fit existing work and markets?

• Who will be able to use or produce the result?

These are design questions as much as implementation questions.

The financing remains uneven

Adaptation planning has expanded, but finance has not kept pace. The IPCC reports that adaptation still represents only a small portion of total climate finance and that private financing is particularly limited in developing countries. Funding, knowledge and implementation gaps continue to constrain action.

Over ten years, the Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge has supported work spanning water treatment, sustainable materials, waste reduction and climate resilience.

The 2025 Impact Report records 18 supported projects and more than $673,000 in prize funding.Green chemistry will remain important to mitigation. But it is also helping communities manage water scarcity, material constraints and environmental pressures already under way.

Recognising that work as adaptation could help it receive the attention—and early support—it needs.