On 16 February 2023, the IUGS - International Union of Geological Sciences has officially established the Commission on Geoethics (CG). The proposal for creating the CG was presented at the 78th IUGS Executive Committee (EC) meeting in Belfast (UK) by Silvia Peppoloni (past IUGS Councilor and Secretary General of the International Association for Promoting Geoethics - IAPG) (Fig. 1).
The CG will be the supporting branch of the IAPG to the IUGS and the IUGS body that officially deals with geoethics and social geosciences for the Union.
The Commission on Geoethics has a light structure made up of a Governing Board, a Supportive Structure, and an Operative Structure consisting of Task Groups working on specific issues. Among them, there is the task group dealing with diversity, equity, and inclusion, which takes the baton from the existing IUGS task group dedicated to those issues.
The core business of this commission consists of the following activities, to be developed in cooperation with the IAPG:
Drafting and updating ethical guidelines for the IUGS.
Supporting the IUGS (officers and bodies) regarding questions such as unprofessional conduct, misconduct, harassment, retaliation, racism, sexism, conflicts of interest and others.
Fostering the participation of women in activities, events, and other initiatives organized or supported by the IUGS with the aim of reducing the gender gap and increasing diversity.
Cooperating with IUGS bodies to focus on geoethical issues or other themes of mutual interests.
Contributing to IUGS events (congresses, including the International Geological Congress - ICG, conferences, videos, webinar, etc.) or any other scientific or public events.
Supporting the IUGS in developing activities at the geoscience-policy interface and delicate issues related to geoscience-society interaction.
Promoting the adoption of the Geoethical Promise within Universities and geoscience organizations.
Organizing events that address ethical and social implications of geoscience knowledge, research, practice, education, and communication.
Training on geoethics, professional ethics, data ethics, and publication ethics.
Networking with geoscience (affiliated or not to the IUGS) and humanities organizations to create opportunities for bridging geosciences and human and social sciences.
Fostering opportunities to increase the impact of IUGS in Latin American and African countries by promoting activities to foster the culture of geosciences among local geoscience communities.
Supporting the IUGS in enlarging its network in countries in which the presence of the IUGS is missing or to be developed/increased.
Preparing an annual report containing the outcomes of the reference year, a plan of activities for the new year, and a financial request to the IUGS. The annual report will contain results, activities, events, publications, or any kind of outcomes of the IAPG to be considered as outcomes of the CG.
The IUGS Commission on Geoethics has dedicated web pages that are hosted on the IAPG website: https://www.geoethics.org/iugs-cg.
In addition, the commission has its official social media pages:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iugs.geoethics/
- Twitter: @iugs_geoethics
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9314437/
IUGS Commission on Geoethics:
IAPG - International Association for Promoting Geoethics: