Chemical makers are sharpening focus on the business of sustainability and placing it at the center of growth strategies. For many, the practice of sustainability is already generating huge benefits in efficiency and profits. Providing for the energy, water, food, housing, mobility, and hygiene needs of a growing population—all while mitigating climate change and dwindling resources—is creating large market opportunities.

Producers say their companies are uniquely positioned to help solve looming global challenges posed by population growth, climate change, and constrained natural resources. Embedding sustainability in day-to-day operations and refocusing product portfolios and innovation on solutions to meet the needs of human development are vital to top-line growth and long-term viability, they say.

Shale gas development has granted the US chemical industry a renewed lease on life by driving costs down, pushing margins up, and attracting a flood of capital investment.