About

Our work

Until the day that ChemSec is not needed anymore and we can go on a permanent vacation, we do everything we can to reverse the chemical pollution crisis that we find ourselves in.

We believe the way to get there is through bold chemicals policies, sustainable industries and the development of safer alternatives. For this reason, we try to involve lawmakers, businesses and investors in our efforts to reach our goal.

Policy

We push international and European lawmakers to adopt progressive and sustainable chemical legislation. Strict chemical regulations are the best way to protect people and planet from hazardous chemicals.

ChemSec is frequently invited to EU meetings at various levels to give our expert opinion. In fact, ChemSec holds official seats in all relevant EU chemical policy committees, and our input is actively sought by the EU Commission, Member States and the European Parliament.

Business

When legislation is slow, industry needs to step up. Companies should not simply wait for regulation to kick in or be satisfied with complying with existing rules if these are not good enough. They have the ability to take the lead and phase out hazardous chemicals voluntarily. Not only does it position them as frontrunners in their industries, they also gain a market advantage in the future.

ChemSec works with world-leading companies from various industries — including Apple, Adidas and IKEA — in the ChemSec Business Group, sharing best practices on chemicals management to reduce the use of toxic chemicals. We also coordinate a corporate anti-PFAS movement of 120 brands worth $130 billion that are saying No to forever chemicals.

Another part of ChemSec’s business work is developing free chemicals management tools — including the SIN List and ChemSec Marketplace — to help companies with their substitution and phase-out efforts. A big part of our work is to highlight the fact that there are safer alternatives available for the vast majority of harmful chemicals and that phase-outs are both economically and technically feasible.

Investors

Cash is said to be king. This means that institutional investors, who are owners of the big publicly traded chemical companies, have a lot of say. By influencing chemical companies to move away from harmful chemicals and switch to safer solutions, if chemical regulations or voluntary phase-outs are not up to par.

ChemSec coordinates the Investor Initiative on Hazardous Chemicals (IIHC), an investor-led collaborative engagement initiative that engages with the world’s largest publicly traded chemical companies. With 75 members and $23 trillion in assets under management, it is the world’s largest investor initiative against hazardous chemicals.

Every year, we also publish ChemScore, which has become the benchmark sustainability index for chemicals management within the chemical industry.

Our organisation

Founded in 2002, ChemSec — the International Chemical Secretariat — is an independent non-profit organisation that engages the work of chemists, political scientists, business experts and communication professionals.

ChemSec is run with financial support from the Swedish Government, foundations, private individuals and other non-profit organisations.

The World Wide Fund for Nature, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Friends of the Earth Sweden and Nature & Youth Sweden are represented on the ChemSec board. ChemSec also sits in the executive committee of IPEN and are a member organisation in the EEB.

Wins

ChemSec — the International Chemical Secretariat — is a small independent non-profit organisation with an outsized impact. Here are some notable victories ChemSec has accomplished in the past few years: 

✅ 450 million Europeans live healthier lives thanks to ChemSec’s immense influence on the EU’s chemicals legislation.

Through our work, we have made sure that the most hazardous chemicals stay off the European market. One concrete example is ChemSec’s successful efforts to ban cancer-causing black dye in wool.

✅ ChemSec coordinates 75+ institutional investors with US $23 trillion in assets in a global investor-led initiative on hazardous chemicals.

A first win came in 2022 when the investors sent a letter to the world’s top chemical companies. A month later, 3M announced it would stop producing PFAS, citing “changing stakeholder expectations” as one of the main reasons.

✅ ChemSec’s PFAS Movement includes over 120 consumer companies worth €186 billion that all support a ban on harmful “forever chemicals”.

The strong push from consumer companies was a contributing factor to the current proposal to restrict PFAS chemicals in the European Union.

✅ ChemSec gathers some of the biggest and most influential companies in the world in the ChemSec Business Group.

The group — which includes Apple, H&M, Adidas, IKEA, Lego, etc. — develops best practices in substitution of hazardous substances. Over the years, the Business Group has made several joint advocacy efforts towards the European Union.

✅ ChemSec runs the world’s largest platform for safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals — Marketplace.

Thanks to ChemSec’s close collaboration with consumer companies and solution providers, we have been able to show that safer alternatives do exist. This work has helped open up and boost the market for sustainable alternatives.