Five ways geoscientists can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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This blog is written by Laura Roberts, Communications Lead at Geology for Global Development. Laura is a geoscientist turned science communicator who is passionate about geoscience, the environment, good communication and, most importantly, dogs. You can find her on Twitter @laurob85.

At Geology for Global Development (a registered charity in the UK) we believe that the geoscience community has a vital role to play when it comes to ensuring a sustainable future for all.

However, the essential contribution geoscience can make towards meeting present societal growth demands, while not compromising the future we leave behind for upcoming generations, is little spoken about and often overlooked.

Geoscience can, and must, be part of the solution to overcome some of society’s grandest challenges. At a time when our science is coming under intense scrutiny it has never been more important to highlight the positive contribution Earth scientists can make towards a sustainable future.

A quick introduction to sustainable development

In 2015, all United Nation Member States adopted an ambitious plan to work towards “peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future,” known as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The aim is to ensure economic and social equality by 2030, while at the same time tackling climate change and preserving the environment. At the heart of the framework sit 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which call for specific actions to be taken to ensure a “better and more sustainable future for all.”

Meeting the ambitious UN targets requires innovation and change at multinational and government level. But we shouldn’t underestimate the impact we can have if we make the SDGs personal. There are a variety of actions that can be taken by individuals, communities, business and organisations to help reach the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda.

Geoscience is not (yet) seen as a force for change

Close ties with the extractive industries*, a lack of positive role models, limited exposure to geology in the school curriculum, a perception that our work is routed in the unseen and uncertain, and declining student numbers (among others) are causing an increasingly poor public perception of Earth science.

Yet, when asked, almost every geoscientist would be able to recite – proudly, might I add – a range of ways in which geoscience can address some of the most important societal and environmental challenges we currently face. There is no doubt, geoscience is a science that can contribute to meeting the SDGs.

Directly at odds with this is how few geoscientists are actively engaged with the SDGs and how poorly practices of ‘sustainability’ are integrated into geoscience education, training and continued professional development.

It seems to me that there is a real gulf between what we know as a community to be true – our science is a big part of the solution – and how we portray ourselves and our work to the public, and to future geoscientists too! The reasons for this are nontrivial and would require many more column inches, but I highly recommend this paper by Iain Stewart and Joel Gill if you want to delve deeper into this topic.

Instead, let me leave you with a resource I hope you’ll find useful: a list of five ways geoscientists can contribute to the SDGs. This list is by no means exhaustive- I’ve linked a number of additional resources at the end of this post which I hope you’ll find useful. I’d love for this post to be ‘living’; if you have more ideas of how geoscientists can ensure things change, please reach out to me at @laurob85 (on Twitter) and I’ll incorporate suggestions to this post on an ongoing basis.

Five ways geoscientists can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals

  1. Raise awareness: At your university, place of work and/or within your professional community: be vocal about and champion the link between geoscience and the SDGs.
  2. Raise public awareness (and change the perception of geology at the same time!): If you already design and participate in public engagement activities, consider adapting them to include more on the SDGs and the role geology can play in attaining them. Alternatively, create a brand new tool for communicating their importance.
  3. Think beyond a traditional geoscience career pathway: A degree in the geosciences provides wide ranging expertise and a whole host of transferable skills. This training can be applied to a range of jobs within NGOs, not-for-profit organisations, think tanks, media outlets (such as the Carbon Brief), government bodies and many more. These jobs may not require a day-to-day application of geological knowledge, but a geoscience background combined with solid transferable skills will make you an attractive candidate.
  4. If you are a student, lobby your university department to shape the future of geoscience education: Consider becoming a student representative and use your platform at student/staff forums to raise the profile of these issues – and hopefully drive actionable change!
  5. Contribute to the work of GfGD: If you feel as passionately as we do about how geology and sustainable development are linked, there are many ways you can contribute to our work:

Additional Resources

*Author note: Reader, please don’t misconstrue this statement. I want to be very clear that I am not passing judgement or attacking those who do have close ties, or work within, the extractive industries – until very recently I was one of them.

Please note this blog is my personal opinion. Though I work for GfGD, the opinions expressed in this post may not reflect those of GfGD.

Editor note: the featured image with this blog is a poster created by the Geological Society in collaboration with Geology for Global Development, and can be found here: https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Posters

2 thoughts on “Five ways geoscientists can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”

  1. As a geoscientist practicing for 30 years now and only getting started on public outreach, I couldn’t agree more. Geoscience professionals, practicing or not, occupy a unique position in the world through core obligations to public safety, and can/should apply the principles of geoethics (the Capetown Statement, etc.) and sustainability in geoscience work in the resource sector, groundwater/watersheds, risk assessment and mitigation, etc. We can/should be thinking about the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in our professional activities, and actively promote gender equality and diversity. In addition, geoscientists in business can contribute greatly to corporate ESG (environmental, social and governance), risk management and integration of these principles into practice. In Ontario Canada there is APGO Education Foundation that coordinates this, and supported by the regulator Professional Geoscientists of Ontario. Similar story throughout other Canadian provinces and elsewhere; where it doesn’t exist someone can champion the cause. There are places for everyone to enhance their/our game and use geoscience knowledge to improve people’s lives. Paul Hubley, P.Geo.

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