Introduction: geoethics goes beyond the geoscience profession

Abstract

This is the second volume focused on geoethics published as a Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, a significant step forward in which authors address the maturation of geoethics, a maturity that has strengthened its theoretical foundations in recent years and reached more insight in its reflections. The field of geoethics is now ready to be introduced outside the geoscience community as a logical platform for global ethics that addresses anthropogenic changes. What is clear is that geoethics has a distinction in the geoscientific community for discussing ethical, social, and cultural implications of geoscience knowledge, research, practice, education, as well as communication. This provides a common ground for confronting ideas, experiences, and proposals on how geosciences can provide additional service to society, in order to improve the way humans interact responsibly with the Earth system. This book provides new messages to geoscientists, social scientists, intellectuals, law and decision-makers, and laypeople. Motivations and actions for facing global anthropogenic changes and their intense impacts on the planet need to be governed by an ethical framework capable of merging a solid conceptual structure with pragmatic approaches based on geoscientific knowledge. This philosophy defines geoethics.