Resourcing future generations: a proposed new IUGS initiative

Abstract

Securing the natural resources needed by future generations will not be easy. It is timely to consider what needs to be done towards that end and the constraints to be faced. The ideas outlined in this paper will be discussed over coming months and it is hoped the Resourcing Future Generations (RFG) would begin in earnest by the third quarter of 2014. It is envisaged that the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) would play a catalytic and coordinating role in RFG, and that appropriate groups amongst its many member countries, interested affiliate members, research and training groups and resource companies, would participate and contribute relevant experience and expertise. Finally, the young geoscientists of today and tomorrow have major responsibilities – they need to embrace the vital and proactive roles they will have to play, in collaboration with others, in addressing major challenges in helping secure the natural resources that will be needed by future generations while sustaining the vital Earth systems.