As this year’s pandemic spreads through Brazil, our own Bárbara Zambelli notices a positive shift in the natural environment. In this article, she wonders, what if we shift from an ethics of exhaustion, to one of abundance? This, she argues, is what geoethics is about. [Editor’s note: This post reflects Bárbara’s personal opinions. These opinions may not reflect official policy positions of Geolog ...[Read More]
A new paper published in Episodes: The Journal of International Geoscience highlights the importance of geoscience in tackling complex development challenges, and the need for new approaches to overcome barriers preventing greater application of geoscience within development. ‘Interconnected geoscience for international development‘, written by Professor Michael Petterson of Auckland U ...[Read More]
This month the GfGD blog revolved around the theme of Resources. Blog author Heather Britton explores the link between the use of natural resources and development. How feasible are the various options available to us, to reach a use of resources aligned with sustainable development? From the ideology of a circular economy, a switch to renewable resources and increasing efficiency, what might help ...[Read More]
Regular GfGD Blog contributor Heather Britton pen’s this weeks post, where she discusses the heated topic of whether we are, or not, living in the Anthropocene. [Editor’s note: This post reflects Heather’s personal opinion. This opinions may not reflect official policy positions of Geology for Global Development.] Naming a geological epoch the Anthropocene, literally meaning R ...[Read More]
The urgency around many sustainability issues leads some billionaire investors to throw caution in the wind, frustrated with the pace of academic research. Robert Emberson sympathises with private projects like the Ocean Cleanup, even when things go wrong. ‘How’, he asks, ‘might we build a constructive bridge between ambitious entrepreneurs and scientific sceptics? ‘ Reading and writing about sust ...[Read More]
One of the most common questions faced by the disaster risk reduction community relates to earthquake prediction (see this Geological Society briefing on prediction vs. forecasting). The disaster risk reduction community, however, would perhaps argue that improved buildings, reduction in poverty, and improved governance are a greater priority than predicting earthquakes. Even so, there are still m ...[Read More]
We have recently contributed to a new open access article included in a special volume coordinated by the International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG). This article, synthesises the role of geoscientists in the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Paris Climate Change Agreement, and discusses ways in which we can in ...[Read More]
At the start of 2017, the GfGD Board of Trustees formally endorsed the ‘Cape Town Statement on Geoethics‘, joining organisations such as Geology in the Public Interest, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and the Geological Society of America (GSA). The ‘Cape Town Statement on Geoethics‘ was prepared during the 35th International Geological Congress in Cape Town, South Af ...[Read More]
The EGU General Assembly 2016 takes place in Vienna between the 17-22 April 2016. Abstract submission is now open for their fantastic range of sessions, with support applications open until 1st December 2015. These offer financial support to early-career scientists and established scientists from low, lower-middle and upper-middle income countries. We’ve noted some sessions of immediate rele ...[Read More]
This week we’re reporting live from the European Geoscience Union (EGU) General Assembly in Vienna. Yesterday afternoon was the turn of the Geoethics session, which has become something of a regular feature in my EGU diary over the past four years. Organised by the International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG), the session began by looking at ‘Geoethics at the Heart of Geosc ...[Read More]