EGU - General Assembly 2025
30 April-2 May 2025
​​
​The General Assembly 2025 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) is held at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) in Vienna, Austria, from 27 April to 2 May 2025. The assembly is open to the scientists of all nations. The entire congress centre is fully accessible by wheelchairs.
​
IAPG co-sponsors the session EOS4.3 "Geoethics and Global Anthropogenic Change: Geoscience for Policy, Action and Education in Addressing the Climate and Ecological Crises" and the short course SC1.7 "Geoethical values, principles and behaviours: A participatory workshop".​​​
​
​
​
EOS4.3: Geoethics and Global Anthropogenic Change: Geoscience for Policy, Action and Education in Addressing the Climate and Ecological Crises
- Orals: 2 May 2025, 08:30–12:30 (CEST), 14:00–15:45 (CEST), Room -2.93
- Posters on site: 2 May 2025, 14:00–18:00 (CEST), Hall X4
- Posters virtual: 30 April 2025, 14:00–18:00 (CEST), vPoster spot 1
Programme: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/session/52035
​
Conveners
Silvia Peppoloni, David Crookall, Elodie Duyck, Giuseppe Di Capua, Paolo Colombo, Svitlana Krakovska, Agata Sangianantoni
​
Session description
Geoethics is essential for addressing global crises such as climate change, ecological degradation, and resource overexploitation. The integration of ethical principles at the heart of geoscience allows us to make more sustainable, equitable, and informed decisions. Geoscientists play a key role in providing accurate and unbiased data to policymakers, and in helping to ensure that decisions reflect the full range of environmental, social, and economic impacts. Their responsibility however extends beyond the sole providing of information: They can actively engage with policymakers and the public to tackle critical challenges, including climate change, ocean degradation, biodiversity loss, pollution and the conflicts driven by fossil fuel dependency. Despite increasing advocacy for transformative solutions, global efforts remain insufficient to address the climate and ecological crises. As global warming nears the 1.5°C threshold (WMO), the primary obstacle to climate action is not as much a lack of awareness, than resistance and denial from powerful vested interests. In the meantime, many institutions, including universities and research centres, tend to reinforce the status quo instead of driving necessary change. In such a scenario, what role can geoscientists assume in order to facilitate urgent transformations?
Geoethics provides a crucial framework for guiding geoscientific practices toward responsible, scientifically-sound and sustainable actions. Through geo-education, effective communication, and the integration of ethical perspectives, geoscientists can build trust, enhance transparency, and engage communities. They can empower citizens with knowledge about the complexities of climate and ocean change, which is essential for fostering collective action and meaningful progress. Some geoscientists decide to engage in collective action themselves, for instance by pressuring research institutes to reduce their environmental impact, or by using civil disobedience to denounce harmful projects and actors. By cultivating a culture of ethical responsibility, geoscientists can help mitigate harm, enhance resilience and promote long-term sustainability. Geoethics urges the geoscientific community to transcend technical solutions and advocate for radical, justice-driven transformations that meet the urgency of the climate and ecological crises. This session seeks to inspire dialogue, showcase innovative practices and explore the evolving role of geoscience in cultural, policymaking, and societal change.​​
SC1.7: Geoethical values, principles and behaviours: A participatory workshop
1 May 2025, 10:45–13:45 (CEST), Room 0.55
​
Programme: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/session/53313
​
Conveners
David Crookall, Giuseppe Di Capua, Berill Blair, Pimnutcha Promduangsri
​
Session description
Values, principles and behaviours (VPBs) underlie geoethics and geoscience. Can we understand or build geoethics or conduct geoscience without reference to these VPBs? How do VPBs influence our professional practice in geoethics and in the geosciences? How are geoethical values, geoethical principles, geoethical behaviours and geoscience related?
Those are some of the questions that we wish to raise in our short course. Values include honesty, compassion, quality, objectivity, truth, respect, justice, peace and beauty. Principles generally make values explicit and are often embodied in ‘dictates’, such as thou shalt not kill, treat all people fairly, be supportive towards others, be humble in success and steadfast in adversity, take responsibility, etc. Behaviour is driven by both values and principles; it is a pattern of action (climate as opposed to weather, if you will). Examples might include striving for quality, being harsh on subordinates, being economical with the truth, being sensitive to others, using logic.
Often an ethical dilemma stems from two or more underlying value conflicts, such as individual identity and social value. It is not easy to understand the dynamics of such relations. Values clarification exercises are often used to enable people together to work through complex issues in which differing, contradictory or hidden values may influence beliefs, principles and behaviours, including decisions. Such exercises allow us to become more aware of the ways in which values relate to our geoethical and geoscience activities.
This Short Course will be conducted in a workshop format:
a. starting with short overviews of geoethics and of clarification exercises;
b. followed by a hands-on, small-group session; and
c. ending with a debriefing session and a discussion.
Both experts and novices in geoethical VPBs are welcome in this Short Course; teachers, researchers and students will benefit. If you wish to do a little preparation before the course, these may be useful:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP508-2020-191, or
https://presentations.copernicus.org/EGU21/EGU21-604_presentation.pdf
Please bring some blank paper and a pen. Also, bring your critical thinking skills and your powers of logic.
This session is co-organized by EOS4 and co-sponsored by International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG) (www.geoethics.org).
IAPG Sessions on Geoethics at EGU General Assemblies from 2012:
​
NH9.8/EOS9 - Geoethics and natural hazards: communication, education and the science-policy-practice interface (co-organized).
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, J. Wasowski, P. Reitan, G. Devoli, S.W. Kieffer, E. Lindquist
​
NH9.8 - Geoethics and natural hazards: the role and responsibility of the geoscientists.
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, S.W. Kieffer, J. Wasowski
​
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, S.W. Kieffer, E. Marone, Y. Kostyuchenko
​
EOS8 - Geoethics for society: General aspects and case studies in geosciences.
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, N. Bilham, S.W. Kieffer, E. Marone
​
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, N. Bilham, E. Marone, M. Charrière, T. Mayer
​
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, N. Bilham, M. Bohle, G. Di Capua, E. Marone
​
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, N. Bilham, M. Bohle, G. Di Capua, E. Marone
​
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, M. Bohle, G. Di Capua, C.M. Keane, J. Rizzi, N. Bilham, V. Correia
​
EOS5.1 - Geoethics: how and why should geosciences serve society?
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, N. Bilham, D. DeMiguel, E. Marone, S. Schneider-Voss
​
EOS4.2 - Geoethics: Geosciences serving Society
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, G. Di Capua
​
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, G. Di Capua, J. Ludden, L. Oosterbeek, P. Promduangsri, B. Williams
​
EOS4.1 - Geoethics: Geoscience Implications for Professional Communities, Society, and Environment
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, A.-I. Partanen, L. Mimeau, G. Di Capua
​
EOS4.4 - Geoethics: The significance of geosciences for society and the environment
Conveners: S. Peppoloni, S. Krakovska, G. Di Capua, D. Crookall