Building a better world, one molecule at a time

To mark the 25th anniversary of the UN Global Compact, this article draws a novel parallel between the periodic table and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), exploring how scientific structures can guide regenerative thinking. From rare earth elements to social inclusion, the periodic table reminds us to leave space for discovery and design with integrity — just as we must in our transition towards sustainable economies.

This reflection was co-created with my son Salvatore, whose curiosity and questions became the spark for much of what follows.

A notebook, a table, a spark

It was an early Sunday morning in Buenos Aires when my son Salvatore climbed into bed with a simple request: did I have a new notebook for him? As it happened, I did, a hardbound journal with the periodic table printed boldly on its cover. That small moment began a conversation that reminded me why chemistry and material science still hold me captive with wonder — and so seems true for Salva!

I’m an isotope geochemist by training, and though today my work focuses on sustainable business strategies, green technology and energy transitions, the periodic table remains my first great intellectual love. Its logic, structure, unapologetic elegance and inclusiveness — few things in science feel so complete, and yet so humbly unfinished.

How does the periodic table function?

The Mendeleev chemical elements' table is a foundational protocol for material sciences. It is a starting point for understanding how atoms combine to form every substance in the universe. The periodic table could be seen as a guide where “building blocks”, the elements, and their key properties, atomic number, mass, reactivity, and bonding, allow scientists to map out every possible material combination, from water, H₂O, to DNA to new materials.

The elements are simply arranged around 2 supersmart primary ciphers: the atomic number and the mass number. Together they define the element´s identity and allow for an immediate classification of behavioural key characteristics that depend on: 

1. Reactivity: elements in the same column react in similar ways because they have the same number of outer electrons to gain, lose, or share!

2. Bonding: an element’s position shows how it will affiliate with others

3. Stability: some elements exist in different forms, called isotopes. Isotopes can be stable or unstable, hence radioactive. As an example, oxygen has 2 stable isotopes, hydrogen has 3, carbon has a few stable and unstable ones. They help us…date!

One, two, and three are chemical characteristics, but don't they apply to human behaviours and development too? Reactivity, bonding, and stability can be seen in how we respond to change, how we form connections, and how we sustain balance over time. 

Just as no element exists in isolation, human progress depends on interaction and interdependence. The same is true for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs: each goal has its own “identity,” yet impact is made way more powerful when applied together: interconnected, reactive, and stabilising forces shaping a shared future.

That same weekend morning, with Salvatore, we spent some beautiful and relaxed hours understanding these connections. Those of human behaviour with the laws of chemical organisation, including atom-electron orbits design, to balance elements´ — or humans' — minor or major reactivity tendencies! 

We imagined going out explaining to family and friends how each one´s character and diversity would depend on specific gaps in electronic configuration!

And, there another brilliance arose: Mendeleev left space. The table was designed to accommodate the unknown. And that, to us, seemed the most regenerative act of all.

Seeing structure, from elements to goals

When the United Nations launched the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, I couldn’t help but see a pattern — not unlike the periodic table. Discrete, clearly labeled boxes. With specific numbers representing KPIs. An overarching logic. A matrix of interdependent priorities.

At first glance, this may seem symbolic. But in sustainability, as in science, structure matters. The SDGs offer a periodic table of human development: social and environmental "elements" that we must understand, measure, and combine wisely. They don’t just set targets. They propose relationships.

When I had the emotional chance to meet Georg Kell, founder of the UN Global Compact and a pioneer in sustainability leadership, I mentioned this resemblance. He kindly smiled and said, “We didn’t design it that way. But you should write about it.” So here I am.

Designing from scarcity and the new alchemy

Much of today’s sustainability and energy transitions debate is dominated by minerals: rare earths, critical raw materials, and the geopolitical anxiety surrounding them. Yet beyond the headlines lies a deeper lesson, that materials themselves can be reimagined. Salvatore captured this while playfully translating the names of lanthanides and actinides in the periodic table from English to Italian, from magnets and lasers to new synthetic elements like Einsteinium, Californium, and Plutonium. His exploration shows how even the most complex matter invites us to see new angles.

Using AI and machine learning, we are already designing synthetic alternatives that match 90% of the functionality of scarce, rare earth elements, or conflict minerals. These last ones are natural resources extracted in conflict zones and sold to perpetuate the fighting, also known as the 3TG Minerals, Tin, Tungsten, Tantalum and Gold. What if they don’t have to be found anymore, if they can be designed? What if the energy transition's supply and value chain can totally shift angle and go synthetic and regenerative by design?

This is regenerative thinking in action. Not extraction, but creation. Not permanence, but iteration. Chemistry reminds us: there is always another combination.

Leaving space: inclusion as scientific principle

There is a detail in Mendeleev’s table that stays with me. In 1869, he left deliberate blank spaces for elements not yet discovered. That gesture was both scientific and deeply human. He believed in what was to come! The gaps left on the chart, by the Russian chemist, were not mistakes, but prophecies: organising the elements by what was known, leaving deliberate empty spaces for elements yet to be discovered and included.

Inclusion in sustainability is often discussed in corporate terms — diversity, equity, representation. But inclusion also belongs in systems design. We must build our frameworks with permeability, with entry points for the unexpected.

In that sense, the SDGs, like the periodic table, are not just static lists. They are invitations. Blueprints that must be adaptable, incomplete by design.

Who cares wins, from values to metrics

When I first read the “Who Cares Wins” report, co-authored by the UN Global Compact in 2004, its radical message stuck with me: non-financial factors have financial impact. ESG was not yet mainstream. But care, real care, was already the smartest investment!

Two decades later, we’ve built frameworks, taxonomies, and metrics. But we must not forget the original spirit. Sustainable design begins with empathy and rigor. Whether you're building an AI model or a solar grid, the question is the same: who does this serve, and who might it exclude? How does its elemental components react and bond together?

That’s what makes the SDGs powerful, not just as a checklist, but as a guide to behaviour. Like the periodic table, they remind us that what we build must be coherent, interconnected, and inclusive.

Design as destiny

The periodic table and the SDGs have something vital in common: they are both systems of organisation that shape how we understand our world and what we choose to do with it.

As we mark the 25th anniversary of the UN Global Compact, let’s treat Agenda 2030 not just as a set of goals, but as a design framework. One that, like Mendeleev’s table, leaves space for what we don’t yet know. One that welcomes complexity, but insists on clarity. One that, above all, is built to include and interconnect.

Because in science as in sustainability, how we design determines how we live. And the future depends on what we’re willing to leave space for.

Salva and I with the original notebook!

I wish to deeply thank George Kell for his enthusiastic reaction listening to the analogy concept between the periodic table and SDGs. Also, Nicholas Vecchioli and Andrea Gori for the very first initial bonding!

*Note on the periodic table: how the organisation determines properties

The genius of the periodic table lies in its order. By arranging elements by atomic number, Mendeleev ensured that electron structures, and therefore chemical behaviours, fall into a repeating, predictable rhythm. At the heart of this rhythm are the valence electrons in the outermost shell. They dictate how an element behaves:

1. Ability to react (Reactivity): Elements in the same group share the same number of valence electrons, which is why they display similar reactivity. The halogens, for example, from fluorine to chlorine, are all one electron short of a full shell — which makes them highly reactive

2. Ability to share (Bonding): An element’s position predicts how it bonds. Metals on the left tend to give away electrons, while nonmetals on the right tend to take or share them. This capacity to bond is not arbitrary — it flows directly from electron configuration, itself dictated by atomic number

3. Stability and diversity (Isotopes): While atomic number fixes the identity of an element, the number of neutrons can vary. This gives rise to isotopes: carbon-12 and carbon-14 are both carbon, but one is stable, the other radioactive. They share chemical properties, but their physical stability differs — a reminder of how diversity emerges even within a single category

A simple analogy clarifies the beauty of this design: a calendar is organised by numbers, not by “Mondays.” In a similar way, the periodic table is not arranged by reactivity, but its numerical order ensures that reactivity cycles back in predictable intervals.

Two primary numbers capture the essence of any element:

1. Atomic Number, Z: The number of protons in the nucleus, which defines identity. Six protons always make carbon, seven always nitrogen. Change the number, and you change the element itself. In a neutral atom, the atomic number also equals the number of electrons, shaping how it bonds and reacts.

2. Mass Number, A: The sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Displayed as atomic weight on the table, it reflects the average mass of an element’s naturally occurring isotopes. This influences density, stability, and even radioactivity.

Together, these numbers explain not just how matter behaves, but why structure is destiny. The periodic table is, in that sense, both a scientific tool and a profound metaphor: identity, diversity, and interaction are not random, they are designed into the fabric of the system.

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