Original Articles
Ying Jian Chen
Abstract
Green chemistry is an important tool in achieving sustainability. It provides solutions to such global challenges as climate change, sustainable environment, energy, toxics in the environment, and the depletion of natural resources. The ethical dimension of green chemistry and sustainability is not an add-on, but rather an inherent component of these concepts. In this paper, we first discuss the definition and meaning as well as the ethical assumptions of green chemistry, and then the ethical implications of sustainability are argued. Finally, the potential links between ethics, intrinsic value and innovation are expounded.