About EGU
Statements of the European Geosciences Union
European Geosciences Union
www.egu.eu
Statements of the European Geosciences Union
EGU statement on the inclusion of global research
22 April 2023
EGU’s vision is to share, publish, promote and collaborate on the latest geoscience research. This extends to raising awareness of potentially exploitative practices that are often referred to as ‘helicopter research’ or ‘parachute science’. These take place when researchers from (often higher-income or more privileged) settings perform research in resource-poor settings with limited to no involvement of local communities or researchers. Such practices may be considered ‘scientific neocolonialism’ as they take advantage of local infrastructures but do not contribute to the inclusion and equal acknowledgement of local researchers. They also lead to the lack of recognition of the value of local knowledge and expertise for enhancing geoscience research.
EGU strives to raise awareness of such imbalances in global research through our diverse activities such as:
initiating and supporting collaborative efforts with sibling geoscience organizations, publishers, funding agencies and policymakers to further raise awareness of exploitative research practices in the geosciences.
organizing spotlight sessions, debates and symposium dedicated to these issues during the EGU General Assembly and other geoscience conferences.
encouraging the inclusiveness of authors and their contributions in presentations, publications, policy reports and data products to give due and full credit for all contributions, and appropriately documenting such participation
These activities serve to further enhance EGU’s efforts to foster equality, diversity and inclusion within the global geosciences community.
EGU statement on the invasion of Ukraine
2 March 2022
The recent invasion of Ukraine is of grave concern to the European Geosciences Union. The impact of this action on the people of Ukraine, as well as their families, friends and colleagues around the world, is immeasurable, and the ensuing human tragedy has shocked the whole world.
As an organisation formed by and for scientists, EGU helps to foster an inclusive research environment where all members of the Earth, space and planetary science community have equal opportunities. Science is a collaborative global enterprise that depends upon the open sharing of information, data and research across international boundaries. It is therefore our great hope that there will be a peaceful resolution to this ongoing conflict and that co-operation and negotiation, rather than aggression, will prevail.
EGU statement: Proposed cuts to EU science funding could slow future research and innovation
21 October 2020
The ongoing pandemic and intensifying effects of climate change demonstrate that Europe needs to invest in its scientists and research and innovation sector. Both are crucial for addressing future economic and societal challenges.
EGU urges Europe to commit to a green economic recovery plan post pandemic
13 July 2020
Europe’s largest geosciences union strongly encourages EU policymakers to adhere to the Paris Agreement timetable and to support the European Green Deal goals during the upcoming budget discussions to shift our economies towards carbon neutrality and create a healthier environment for all.
EGU strongly supports equality, diversity and inclusion
3 June 2020
Europe’s largest geosciences union is committed to improving equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion both within and beyond the geosciences and condemns racism or any other form of discrimination anywhere in the world.
Declaration of the Significance of Geoscience Expertise to Meet Global Societal Challenges
4 May 2020
The Earth, planetary and space science community affirms its commitment to support and promote scientific knowledge and research for the benefit of humanity.
EGU statement of support for the European Research Council
15 April 2020
The EGU is concerned that a diversion of funding away from the ERC, or changes to its bottom-up approach, could result in diminished scientific breakthroughs and less innovation in the future.
Open letter to funding agencies regarding presentations at EGU meetings
20 August 2019
The EGU has issued an open letter to funding agencies and evaluation committees with information on the assessment of presentations given at its scientific meetings. The letter details the three presentation types given at the EGU General Assembly and states that the selection of the type of presentation is not based on any evaluation of the scientific value of the contribution. As highlighted in a previous EGU statement, the letter also emphasises that there is no distinction regarding the standing, quality or prestige of oral, poster, or PICO presentations.
Scientific community strongly supports European integration and cooperation
10 April 2019
EGU is committed to standing up for international cooperation in science and taking a leading role within the scientific community in order to reduce barriers to scientific collaboration and cooperation across Europe, let alone increase them, as these would be a tremendous loss to European nations, to the international scientific community and to humanity as a whole.
EGU’s response to potential changes to the European Research Council
11 February 2019
A scheduled re-organisation of the European Commission’s Research and Innovation Directorate General has raised concerns about its potential impact on the European Research Council (ERC). The EGU strongly supports the unique ability that the ERC currently has to respond directly and independently to the needs of the scientific community.
EGU’s reaction to IPCC report on Global Warming of 1.5°C
9 October 2018
Yesterday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations scientific and intergovernmental body, published the summary for policymakers of its Global Warming of 1.5ºC (SR15) report. EGU representatives react to the findings.
Joint EGU-AGU statement of principles for a code of ethics for the geosciences
4 April 2018
EGU takes pride in aspiring to the highest ethical standards in everything we do. To this end, we have created, in partnership with AGU, a joint code of ethics. We encourage you to adopt its recommendations both for the meeting and your wider professional life.
Statement on scientific presentations at the EGU General Assembly
20 February 2018
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) stresses that all scientific presentations at its General Assembly have equal importance, independent of format. There is no distinction regarding the standing, quality or prestige of oral, poster, or PICO presentations. Our different presentation formats offer different ways to present research and obtain feedback. In all cases, a presenter is expected to deliver the main message of the research orally and discuss their results with other participants at the meeting.
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) strongly supports the teaching of evolution in schools and other educational fora. Evolution, a fundamental concept in biology and the Earth sciences, is the only theory supported by scientific evidence to describe how life on Earth has evolved.
EGU’s statement on the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement
2 June 2017
On June 1st 2017, the President of the United States announced the country would be withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. The European Geosciences Union (EGU) strongly opposes this decision. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that climate is changing as a consequence of human activity, and that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is vital to limit global warming and lower the risk of dangerous climate impacts.
Signatory of Open Access 2020, an initiative to promote the large-scale transition from subscription to open access publishing
22 March 2016
Building on the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities and on the progress that has been achieved so far, the signatories of Open Access 2020 are pursuing the large-scale implementation of free online access to, and largely unrestricted use and re-use of scholarly research articles.
EGU position statement on the status of discussion papers published in EGU interactive open access journals
4 July 2010
This statement shall clarify the definition and standing of discussion papers published in the interactive open access journals of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). These journals pursue a two-stage process of publication and review, which is designed to foster and document scientific discussion and has proven to enhance the transparency, efficiency and self-regulation of scientific quality assurance.
Impacts of ocean acidification may be just as dramatic as those of global warming (resulting from anthropogenic activities on top of natural variability) and the combination of both are likely to exacerbate consequences, resulting in potentially profound changes throughout marine ecosystems and in the services that they provide to humankind.
The EGU Council at its meeting on 12 October 2007 in Lyon discussed the issue of whether the Union should accept sponsorship from individuals, the public sector and the private sector. This statement outlines the principles governing potential sponsorship of EGU activities.
Sponsor of The Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) and of its Declaration for a Geoscience Information Commons
8 November 2006
The Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) joins with the International Council for Science, the World Summit on the Information Society, and many other bodies in recognizing that knowledge is the common wealth of humanity.
Partner of the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) organised under the auspices of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
10 October 2006
The International Year of Planet Earth aims to capture people’s imagination with the exciting knowledge we possess about our planet, and to see that knowledge used to make the Earth a safer, healthier and wealthier place for our children and grandchildren International Year of Planet Earth 2007-2009.
EGU position statement of the Divisions of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences of the European Geosciences Union on climate change and recent letters from the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce
7 July 2005
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) Divisions of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences support the joint science academies’ statement on global response to climate change of June 2005. Moreover, we welcome the intention of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and its Chairman to explore the science of global warming and climate change as a basis for future political decisions.
Signatory of the Initiative for Science in Europe to unify over 50 European organisations representing all scientific disciplines in their support of the European Research Council (ERC)
30 June 2005
Europe has made great strides towards agreeing on a genuine new mechanism to fund frontier research – the European Research Council (ERC). The EGU and other signatories of this letter agree that the ERC should receive a strong budget commitment and a statute guaranteeing its independence.
Signatory of the Berlin Open Access Initiative, Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in Sciences and Humanities
12 February 2004
The Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities of 22 October 2003 is one of the milestones of the Open Access movement. Signatory organisations declare their interest in strongly promoting the open access paradigm to gain the most benefit for science and society.
The European Geosciences Union (EGU), founded in 2002 as a merger of the European Geophysical Society (EGS) and the European Union of Geosciences (EUG), is a dynamic, innovative, and interdisciplinary learned association devoted to the promotion of: the sciences of the Earth and its environment and of planetary and space sciences, and cooperation between scientists.
