The Cape Town Statement on Geoethics

Recently the interest by geoscientists in (geo)ethical aspects of geoscience knowledge, education, research, practice and communication has grown considerably. Today the topic of geoethics has gained a significant visibility within the scientific community. The IAPG – International Association for Promoting Geoethics (http://www.geoethics.org), founded in 2012, has worked to widen the discussion and create awareness about issues of ethics as applied to the geosciences. Thanks to continuous voluntary work, the respectful exchange, and fruitful sharing of ideas, the IAPG community has produced a conceptual substratum on which to base the future development of geoethics, by clarifying the meaning of the word “geoethics”, formalizing its definition, and better identifying a framework of reference values on which the geoscience community can base more effective codes of conduct and guidance. The members of the IAPG community have published various books and articles in peer-reviewed international journals, and organized numerous scientific sessions to bring geoethics to the most important geoscience conferences. Geoethical issues have been also included in the European project ENVRI-Plus, which is dedicated to the environmental and solid Earth research infrastructures. The tangible result of these efforts is that, now, many prestigious geoscience organizations recognize geoethics as a fundamental issue, worthy of attention. This result was confirmed by the high quality of content and the large participation of scientists in the six technical sessions and a panel session on geoethics organized by IAPG at the 35th IGC – International Geological Congress, held in 2016 in Cape Town (South Africa). Largely successful due to the cooperative work of different geoscience organizations (IUGS-TGGP – Task Group on Global Geoscience Professionalism; GSL - Geological Society of London; EFG - European Federation of Geologists; EGS - EuroGeoSurveys; AGI – American Geosciences Institute; AGU – American Geophysical Union, and AAWG – African Association of Women in Geosciences). The IAPG considers the 35th IGC as the scientific event that opened a new phase for furthering the concept of geoethics. In order to mark this milestone, the "Cape Town Statement on Geoethics" (CTSG) was tabled by the IAPG and reviewed in an international effort. It shall focus the attention of geoscientists on the development of shared values, policies, guidelines, strategies and tools, with the long-range goal of fostering the regular adoption of ethical values and practices within the geoscience community. The document summarizes the values, concepts, and contents developed by IAPG so far, providing a perspective for the future development of geoethical thinking. This paper addresses in detail the content of the “Cape Town Statement on Geoethics”, which is now supported officially by several geoscience organizations.

IAPG - International Association for Promoting Geoethics

Bobrowsky P., Cronin V.S., Di Capua G., Kieffer S.W., Peppoloni S. (2017). The Emerging Field of Geoethics. In: Scientific Integrity and Ethics with Applications to the Geosciences, edited by L.C. Gundersen. Special Publication American Geophysical Union, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Lollino G., Arattano M., Giardino M., Oliveira R., Peppoloni S. (2014). Engineering Geology for Society and Territory - Volume 7 “Education, Professional Ethics and Public Recognition of Engineering Geology”, XVII, 274 p., Springer, ISBN: 978-3319093024.
Mansur K.L., Ponciano L.C.M.O., De Castro A.R.S.F. (2017). Contributions to a Brazilian Code of Conduct for Fieldwork in Geology: an approach based on Geoconservation and Geoethics. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences), vol. 89, no. 1, supl. 0, 431-444.
Matteucci R., Gosso G., Peppoloni S., Piacente S., Wasowski J. (2014). The “Geoethical Promise”: A Proposal. Episodes, Vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 190-191.
Meller C., Schill E., Bremer J., Kolditz O., Bleicher A., Benighaus C., Chavot P., Gross M., Pellizzone A., Renn O., Schilling F., Kohl T. (2017). Acceptability of geothermal installations: A geoethical concept for GeoLaB. Geoethermics, Available online 14 August 2017: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0375650517300858, accessed 4 October 2017.
Peppoloni S. (2015). Sharing ethical principles through cultural diversity. Translations of the Montreal Statement on Research Integrity in Cross Boundary Research Collaborations. IAPG - International Association for Promoting Geoethics: http://www.geoethics.org/translations-ms, accessed 30 October 2017.
Peppoloni S., Bobrowsky P., Di Capua G. (2015). Geoethics: A Challenge for Research Integrity in Geosciences, pp. 287-294, doi: 10.1142/9789814632393_0035. In: Steneck N., Anderson M., Kleinert S., Mayer T. (Eds.), Integrity in the Global Research Arena, 336 pp., World Scientific Publishing Co, ISBN: 9789814632386.
Peppoloni S. and Di Capua G. (2012). Geoethics and geological culture - Reflections from the Geoitalia Conference 2011. Annals of Geophysics, Vol. 55, No 3, p.163: http://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/issue/view/482, accessed 30 October 2017.
Peppoloni S. and Di Capua G. (2014). The Meaning of Geoethics. In: Wyss M. and Peppoloni S. (Eds), Geoethics: ethical challenges and case studies in Earth Science, 450 p., Elsevier, Waltham, Massachusetts, ISBN: 9780127999357.
Peppoloni S. and Di Capua G. (2015). Geoethics: the Role and Responsibility of Geoscientists. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 419, ISBN: 9781862397262.
Peppoloni S. and Di Capua, G. (2016). Geoethics: Ethical, social, and cultural values in geosciences research, practice, and education, pp. 17-21, doi: 10.1130/2016.2520(03). In: Wessel G.R. and Greenberg J.K. (Eds), Geoscience for the Public Good and Global Development: Toward a Sustainable Future: Geological Society of America Special Paper 520, 2016, ISBN: 9780813725208.
Peppoloni S. and Di Capua G. (2017). Geoethics: ethical, social and cultural implications in geosciences. Annals of Geophysics, 60, Fast Track 7, doi: 10.4401/ag-7473.
Peppoloni S., Di Capua G., Bobrowsky P.T., Cronin V. (2017). Geoethics at the heart of all geoscience. Annals of Geophysics, Vol 60, Fast Track 7: http://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/issue/view/537, accessed 30 October 2017.
Stewart I.S. and Gill J.C. (2017). Social geology - integrating sustainability concepts into Earth sciences. Proceeding of the Geologists’ Association, Volume 128, Issue 2, Pages 165–172.
Stewart I.S. and Lewis D. (2017). Communicating contested geoscience to the public: Moving from ‘matters of fact’ to ‘matters of concern’. Earth-Science Reviews, Volume 174, Pages 122-133.
Vasconcelos C., Torres J., Vasconcelos L., Moutinho S. (2016). Sustainable Development and its Connection to Teaching Geoethics. Episodes, vol. 39, n. 3, pp. 509-517.
Wyss M. and Peppoloni S. (2014). Geoethics, Ethical Challenges and Case Studies in Earth Sciences. p. 450, Elsevier, ISBN: 9780127999357.