AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, Fast Track 7, 2017; d oi: 10.4401/ ag-7553 1 The Cape Tow n Statement on Geoethics GIUSEPPE DI CAPUA, SILVIA PEPPOLON I Istitu to N azion ale d i Geofisica e Vu lcan ologia, Italy IAPG – In tern ation al Association for Prom otin g Geoeth ics giu sep p e.d icap u a@in gv.it, silvia.p ep p olon i@in gv.it PETER T. BOBROWSKY Geological Su rvey of Can ad a – N atu r al Resou rces Can ad a IAPG – In tern ation al Association for Prom otin g Geoeth ics Peter.Bobrow sky@can ad a.ca Abstract 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 scien- tific community. The IA PG – International A ssociation 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 IA PG 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 geosci- ence community can base more effective codes of conduct and guidance. The members of the IA PG community have pu b- lished 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 EN V RI-Plus, which is dedicated to the environmental and solid Earth research infrastructures. The tangible re- sult 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 IA PG at the 35th IGC – International Geological Congress, held in 2016 in Cape Town (South A frica). Largely successful due to the cooperative work of different geosci- ence organizations (IUGS-TGGP – Task Group on Global Geoscience Professionalism; GSL - Geological Society of Lon- don; EFG - European Federation of Geologists; EGS - EuroGeoSurveys; A GI – A merican Geosciences Institute; A GU – A merican Geophysical Union, and A A W G – A frican A ssociation of W omen in Geosciences). The IA PG 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 IA PG 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 IA PG so far, providing a per- spective 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. 1. IN TROD UCTION n recen t years, th e geoscien ce com m u n ity h as sh ow n a grow in g in terest for geoeth ics. Th e w ork carried ou t by th e IAPG in its first five years of activity h as brou gh t forw ard ta n - gible resu lts. Th ey h ave facilitated th e grow th of th is em ergin g field of sch olarly in qu iry. Th is in clu d es th e p u blication of n u m erou s books an d articles w ritten u n d er a p eer -review p ro- cess (Lollino et al., 2014; Pep poloni and Di Cap- u a, 2012 and 2015; Pep poloni et al., 2017; Wyss I AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, Fast Track 7, 2017; d oi: 10.4401/ ag-7553 2 and Pep poloni, 2014) and m ore than 70 events (scientific sessions, conferences, w orkshop s, sem - inars, etc.) that have been organized w orld w id e (http:/ / w w w .geoethics.org/ events, accessed 30 October 2017. Th e con sequ en ce is th at m ore g e- oscien tists are n ow d iscu ssin g th e eth ical an d social im p lication s of th eir w ork (Man su r et al., 2017; Meller et al., 2017; Stew art an d Gill, 2017; Stew art an d Lew is, 2017; Vascon celos et al., 2016) an d recogn ize geoeth ics as a tran sversal su bject in geoscien ces (Bobrow sky et al., 2017). Th an ks to th e in volvem en t of m an y geoscien - tists, it h as been p ossible to p rovid e geoeth ics w ith a m ore solid con cep tu al su bstratu m (for a su m m ary see Pep p olon i an d Di Cap u a, 2014 an d 2017; Bobrow sky et al., 2017). Startin g from th e etym ological an alysis of th e w ord s “geo” an d “eth ics”, a d efin ition of geoeth ics h as been elaborated , several geoscien ce issu es u p on w h ich geoeth ics can ap p ly its an alyses h ave been id en tified , an d a set of geoeth ical valu es h ave been p rop osed . Th e latter offer a sort of com m on grou n d of reason in g to be u sed by geoscien tists com in g from variou s cou n tries, h avin g often h u ge d ifferen ces in th eir cu ltu ral exp erien ces, view s an d econ om ic p ersp ectives, alth ou gh n eed in g to sh are a com m on geosci- en ce vision . After years of activity, w e are n ow able to trace a coh eren t p ath in th e th eoretical an d p ractical d evelop m en t of geoeth ics th at can stren gth en its cred ibility in th e geoscien ce com m u n ity. Th e Cap e Tow n Statem en t on Geoeth ics (CTSG), released officially on October 2016, is a d ocu m en t th at d efin es a con cep tu al fram ew ork for th e stu d y of geoeth ics, an d p rovid es a first step to start to exp lore w h eth er geoeth ics cou ld evolve in to a n ew d iscip lin e, eith er w ith in ge o- scien ces or w ith in eth ical scien ces. 2. THE CON TEXT The CTSG w as prep ared d u ring the 35th Intern a- tional Geological Congress, held in Cape Tow n (Sou th Africa) in Au gu st-Septem ber 2016, w here IAPG organized six technical sessions and a p anel session on geoethics, w ith a large nu m ber of speakers and a d iverse and active au d ience (http:/ / w w w .geoethics.org/ 35th-igc, accessed 30 October 2017). Th e d ocu m en t is th e p rod u ct of an in tern ation al effort, th e resu lt of a coop er a- tive w ork th at h as in volved geoscien tists from all over th e w orld d u rin g th e p eriod 2012 to 2016. Th e CTSG’s aim is to focu s th e atten tion of geoscien tists on th e d evelop m en t of sh ared p olicies, gu id elin es, strategies an d tools, w ith th e lon g-ran ge goal of fosterin g th e w id esp read ad op tion of eth ical p ractices in th e ge oscien ce com m u n ity. Discu ssion s d u rin g scien tific m ee t- in gs, ed itorial p rojects an d oth er activities ca r- ried ou t u n d er th e u m brella of IAPG h ave p r o- vid ed th e fertile grou n d to circu late id eas an d to m ake m ore colleagu es aw are abou t th e n e- cessity to give geoeth ics a coh eren t th eoretical fram ew ork stru ctu re. 3. WHY THIS DOCUMENT WAS N ECESSARY Eth ical an d social im p lication s in geoscien ce research an d p ractice are becom in g key -asp ects in th e geoscien ce p rofession . Geoeth ics sh arp en categories to face th e m an y issu es th at in volve both th e scien tific com m u n ities an d societies: in tellectu al freed om an d h on esty, resp on sibil- ity, resp ect, p reven tion , ad ap tation , an d su s- tain ability (Pep p olon i et al., 2015; Pep p olon i an d Di Cap u a, 2016). In ord er to fram e th e ge o- eth ics d iscu ssion , it w as im p ortan t to fix seve r- al essen tial resu lts com in g from a coop erative effort in ren ew ed th in kin g abou t geoscien ce’s role in itself an d for society. Th e p restigiou s In tern ation al Geological Con gress (IGC), th at sin ce 1878 h as attracted geoscien tists from all over th e w orld , seem ed th e best even t to lau n ch a statem en t on geoeth ics as a p rod u ct of a scien tific com m u n ity w ith a h igh level tech - n ical-scien tific kn ow led ge, bu t n ow m ore aw are also of its eth ical an d social resp on sibil- ity in p racticin g geoscien ces. Sin ce th e 34th In tern ation al Geological Co n - gress, geoeth ics h as reach ed a m u ch h igh er level of visibility an d stan d in g. Moreover, th e com m on sp ace of a broad in tern ation al n e t- w ork of colleagu es an d organ ization s in volved in th e d iscu ssion on geoeth ical issu es an d th e h igh qu ality con ten ts in books an d article s u rged to p rop ose a su m m ary d ocu m en t, w h ich gives to th e geoscien ce com m u n ity a fram e- w ork of referen ce on geoeth ics, ou tlin es ach ievem en ts, an d orien tates th e fu tu re d eve l- op m en t of th e eth ical an d social d iscu ssion . AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, Fast Track 7, 2017; d oi: 10.4401/ ag-7553 3 4. THE CTSG STRUCTURE Th e CTSG is stru ctu red in to several section s (see Ap p en d ix A). Th e “Pream ble” clearly in d i- cates th e overarch in g objective of th e en tire d ocu m en t. Th e “In trod u ction ” ou tlin es both , th e con text in w h ich geoscien tists are n ow o p - eratin g, an d th e p rem ises for follow in g a ge o- eth ical ap p roach . Th e section “Defin ition of Geoeth ics” d etails th e IAPG form u la (origin ally a con tribu tion in Wyss an d Pep p olon i, 2014). Th e form u la is based on th e term “eth ics” as in trod u ced by Aristotle (384-322 BC), an d w as d efin ed w ith th e in volvem en t of sociologists an d p h ilosop h ers. Th e section “Pu rp ose” d e- lin eates th e scop e of geoeth ics, w h y it is esse n - tial for th e geoscien ce com m u n ity an d society. Th e p u rp ose to em brace geoeth ics is to im - p rove th e qu ality of research an d p rofession al w ork an d th e cred ibility of geoscien tists, foster excellen ce in geoscien ces, gu aran tee su stain a- ble ben efits for com m u n ities, p rotect local an d global en viron m en ts, an d en su re th e con d ition s for a h ealth y an d p rosp erou s d evelop m en t of fu tu re gen eration s. In th e section “Fu n d am en - tal Valu es of Geoeth ics” th e CTSG lists valu es to be con sid ered for an eth ical ap p roach to tech n ical an d scien tific p roblem s related to g e- oscien ces. Th ey regard both th e in d ivid u al an d th e social sp h ere of geoscien tists, in p articu lar th e fou r d im en sion s to con sid er in geoeth ical an alysis (self, colleagu es, society, an d en v i- ron m en t). Th e keyw ord is “resp on sibility”, on e th at sh ou ld becom e th e fou n d ation of an y a c- tion of geoscien tists, in all th e d ifferen t field s of th eir activities (e.g. p rofession al, acad em ic an d research field s, ed u cation activity, p u blic e m - p loym en t, in d u stry) (Pep p olon i an d Di Cap u a, 2016). Th e section “Geoeth ical Prom ise” co n - tain s a sligh tly revised version of th e Geoeth i- cal Prom ise, an H ip p ocratic-like oath for geo- scien tists, origin ally p rop osed by Matteu cci et al. (2014). Th e Geoeth ical Prom ise is on e w ay to em p h asize th e valu es th at you n g scien tists m u st keep in m in d d u rin g th eir geoscien ce ca- reer. It is also a tool for sen ior geoscien tists to re-con sid er id eals th at d irect th eir activities. Th e section “Fin al Statem en t” closes th e d ocu - m en t, u n d erlyin g fu tu re en viron m en tal an d social ch allen ges, en cou ragin g geoscien tists to raise th eir resp on sibility, an d stren gth en th e cred ibility of geoscien ces in ord er to secu re s o- cietal tru st. Th e fin al statem en t stresses th e n e- cessity of th e d ocu m en t for th e geoscien ce com m u n ity in th e ligh t of global ch allen ges (en ergy, w ater, m in erals, georisks, p ollu tion , lan d d egrad ation ) th at geoscien tists face by s o- ciety. Th e fin al version of th e CTSG, im p roved w ith com m en ts an d su ggestion s of review ers, w as p resen ted at th e 35th IGC on 29 Au gu st 2016, d iscu ssed at th e 1st IAPG Gen eral Assem bly in Cap e Tow n on 31st Au gu st 2016, th en ratified by th e IAPG Execu tive Cou n cil on 26th October 2016 an d released officially in th e IAPG w eb- site. Th e CTSG is a referen ce d ocu m en t an d it is su p p orted by 18 geoscien ce organ ization s th u s far (h ttp :/ / w w w .geoeth ics.org/ ctsg, accessed 30 October 2017). In ord er to in crease its global im p act, th e statem en t w ill be tran slat ed in to several lan gu ages, th an ks to th e coop eration of d ozen s of colleagu es, as alread y d on e for th e Mon treal Statem en t on Research In tegrity (Pep p olon i, 2015). Provid in g access in a n u m - ber of lan gu ages m ean s w e can en h an ce th e cu ltu ral d iversity as an elem en t of u n ion , th rou gh w h ich all scien tists can sh are u n iversal valu es an d stren gth en th eir com m on id en tity in social d iversity. 5. CON CLUSION Th e CTSG sh all en cou rage a m ore resp on sible beh aviou r of p ractice in geoscien ces. It a d - d resses firstly th e geoscien ce com m u n ity, bu t h as im p ortan t sign ifican ce also to society as a w h ole, as it syn th esizes som e valu es th at m u st gu id e h u m an action s w ith resp ect to th e Earth system . Th rou gh th e CTSG several im p ortan t m atters h ave been recom m en d ed th at m ay e n - cou rage colleagu es to fu rth er th eir eth ical an d social role, to d u tifu lly foster excellen t scien ce an d a p rofession al service to th e society. Man y colleagu es p rom ote a resp on sible w ay to ap p roach p roblem s in volvin g geoscien ce kn ow led ge an d to fin d reason able solu t ion s, based on accep table com p rom ises if n eed ed . Re-d iscoverin g also an id eal d im en sion in th e geoscien ce p rofession m ean s to w ork m ore e f- fectively for th e com m on good , goin g so b e- yon d th e sim p le p erson al su ccess. AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, Fast Track 7, 2017; d oi: 10.4401/ ag-7553 4 REFEREN CES Bobrow sky P., Cron in V.S., Di Cap u a G., Kief- fer S.W., Pep p olon i S. (2017). Th e Em ergin g Field of Geoeth ics. In : Scien tific In tegrity an d Eth ics w ith Ap p lication s to th e Geosci- en ces, ed ited by L.C. Gu n d ersen . Sp ecial Pu blication Am erican Geop h ysical Un ion , Joh n Wiley an d Son s, In c. Lollin o G., Arattan o M., Giard in o M., Oliveira R., Pep p olon i S. (2014). En gin eerin g Geolo- gy for Society an d Territory - Volu m e 7 “Ed u cation , Profession al Eth ics an d Pu blic Recogn ition of En gin eerin g Geology”, XVII, 274 p ., Sp rin ger, ISBN : 978-3319093024. Man su r K.L., Pon cian o L.C.M.O., De Castro A.R.S.F. (2017). Con tribu tion s to a Brazilian Cod e of Con d u ct for Field w ork in Geology: an ap p roach based on Geocon servation an d Geoeth ics. An ais d a Acad em ia Brasileira d e Ciên cias (An n als of th e Brazilian Acad em y of Scien ces), vol. 89, n o. 1, su p l. 0, 431-444. Matteu cci R., Gosso G., Pep p olon i S., Piacen te S., Wasow ski J. (2014). Th e “Geoeth ical Prom ise”: A Prop osal. Ep isod es, Vol. 37, n o. 3, p p . 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). Accep t- ability 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. Pep p olon i 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 Geo- ethics: http:/ / www.geoethics.org/ translations- ms, accessed 30 October 2017. Pep p olon i S., Bobrow sky P., Di Cap u a G. (2015). Geoeth ics: A Ch allen ge for Research In tegrity in Geoscien ces, p p . 287-294, d oi: 10.1142/ 9789814632393_0035. In : Sten eck N ., An d erson M., Klein ert S., Mayer T. (Ed s.), In tegrity in th e Global Research Ar e- n a, 336 p p ., World Scien tific Pu blish in g Co, ISBN : 9789814632386. Pep p olon i S. an d Di Cap u a G. (2012). Geoeth ics an d geological cu ltu re - Reflection s from th e Geoitalia Conference 2011. Annals of Geophys- ics, Vol. 55, No 3, p.163: http:/ / www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/ index.php / annals/ issue/ view/ 482, accessed 30 October 2017. Pep p olon i S. an d Di Cap u a G. (2014). Th e Mean in g of Geoeth ics. In : Wyss M. an d Pep p olon i S. (Ed s), Geoet h ics: eth ical ch al- len ges an d case stu d ies in Earth Scien ce, 450 p ., Elsevier, Walth am , Massach u setts, ISBN : 9780127999357. Pep p olon i S. an d Di Cap u a G. (2015). Geoeth - ics: th e Role an d Resp on sibility of Geoscie n - tists. Geological Society, Lon d on , Sp ecial Pu blication s, 419, ISBN : 9781862397262. Pep p olon i S. an d Di Cap u a, G. (2016). Geoet h - ics: Eth ical, social, an d cu ltu ral valu es in geoscien ces research , p ractice, an d ed u ca- tion , p p . 17-21, d oi: 10.1130/ 2016.2520(03). In : Wessel G.R. an d Green berg J.K. (Ed s), Geoscien ce for th e Pu blic Good an d Global Develop m en t: Tow ard a Su stain able Fu tu re: Geological Society of Am erica Sp ecial Pap er 520, 2016, ISBN : 9780813725208. Pep p olon i S. an d Di Cap u a G. (2017). Geoeth - ics: eth ical, social an d cu ltu ral im p lication s in geoscien ces. An n als of Geop h ysics, 60, Fast Track 7, d oi: 10.4401/ ag -7473. Pep p olon i 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. Stew art I.S. an d Gill J.C. (2017). Social geology - in tegratin g su stain ability con cep ts in to Earth scien ces. Proceed in g of th e Geolo- gists’ Association , Volu m e 128, Issu e 2, Pages 165–172. Stew art I.S. an d Lew is D. (2017). Com m u n i- catin g con tested geoscien ce to th e p u blic: Movin g from ‘m atters of fact’ to ‘m atters of con cern ’. Earth -Scien ce Review s, Volu m e 174, Pages 122-133. Vascon celos C., Torres J., Vascon celos L., Mou tin h o S. (2016). Su stain able Develo p - m en t an d its Con n ection to Teach in g Ge o- eth ics. Ep isod es, vol. 39, n . 3, p p . 509-517. Wyss M. an d Pep p olon i S. (2014). Geoeth ics, Eth ical Ch allen ges an d Case Stu d ies in Earth Scien ces. p . 450, Elsevier, ISBN : 9780127999357. AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, Fast Track 7, 2017; d oi: 10.4401/ ag-7553 5 APPEN D IX A THE CAPE TOWN STATEMEN T ON GEOETHICS Preamble Th e con cep ts, valu es an d view s on in d ivid u al resp on sibilities of geoscien tists, exp ressed in th e “Cap e Tow n Statem en t on Geoeth ics” r e- flect an in tern ation al con sen su s. Th e statem en t aim s to cap tu re th e atten tion of geoscien tists an d organ ization s, an d to stim u late th em to im p rove th eir sh ared p olicies, gu id elin es, stra t- egies an d tools to en su re th ey con sciou sly e m - brace (geo)eth ical p rofession al con d u ct in th eir w ork. Introduction Geoscien ces h ave m ajor im p acts on th e fu n c- tion in g an d kn ow led ge-base of m od ern socie- ties. Geoscien tists h ave sp ecific kn ow led ge an d skills, w h ich are requ ired to in vestigate, m a n - age an d in terven e in variou s com p on en ts of th e Earth system to su p p ort h u m an life an d w ell- bein g, to d efen d p eop le again st geoh az ard s an d to en su re n atu ral resou rces are m an aged an d u sed su stain ably. Th is en tails eth ical obli- gation s. Th erefore, geoscien tists m u st em brace eth ical valu es in ord er best to serve th e p u blic good . Geoeth ics is an em ergin g su bject, w h ich p r o- m otes a w ay of th in kin g an d p racticin g geosci- en ces, w ith in th e w id er con text of th e roles of geoscien tists in teractin g w ith colleagu es, socie- ty an d th e p lan et. On ly by gu aran teein g th e in tellectu al freed om of research ers an d p ractition ers to exp lore an d d iscover in th e Earth system , is it p ossible for geoscien tists to follow eth ical ap p roach es in th eir w ork. Likew ise, on ly by in creasin g r e- search ers’ an d p ractition ers’ aw aren ess of th e eth ical im p lication s of th eir w ork is it p ossible to d evelop excellen t geoscien ce to ser ve society an d to red u ce th e h u m an im p act on th e en v i- ron m en t. D efinition of Geoethics Geoeth ics con sists of research an d reflection on th e valu es w h ich u n d erp in ap p rop riate beh a v- iou rs an d p ractices, w h erever h u m an activities in teract w ith th e Earth syste m . Geoeth ics d eals w ith th e eth ical, social an d cu l- tu ral im p lication s of geoscien ces kn ow led ge, ed u cation , research , p ractice an d com m u n ica- tion , an d w ith th e social role an d resp on sibility of geoscien tists in con d u ctin g th eir activities. Purpose Em bracin g geoeth ics is essen tial: to im p rove both th e qu ality of p rofession al w ork an d th e cred ibility of geoscien tists, to foster excellen ce in geoscien ces, to assu re su stain able ben efits for com m u n ities, as w ell as to p rotect local an d global en viron m en ts; all w ith th e aim of creat- in g an d m ain tain in g th e con d ition s for th e h ealth y an d p rosp erou s d evelop m en t of fu tu re gen eration s. Fundamental Values of Geoethics  H on esty, in tegrity, tran sp aren cy an d relia- bility of th e geoscien tist, in clu d in g strict ad h eren ce to scien tific m eth od s;  Com p eten ce, in clu d in g regu lar train in g an d life-lon g learn in g;  Sh arin g kn ow led ge at all levels as a valu a- ble activity, w h ich im p lies com m u n icatin g scien ce an d resu lts, w h ile takin g in to a c- cou n t in trin sic lim itation s su ch as p robabili- ties an d u n certain ties;  Verifyin g th e sou rces of in form ation an d d ata, an d ap p lyin g objective, u n biased p eer-review p rocesses to tech n ical an d sci- en tific p u blication s;  Workin g w ith a sp irit of coop eration an d recip rocity, w h ich in volves u n d erstan d in g an d resp ect for d ifferen t id eas an d h yp oth e- ses;  Resp ectin g n atu ral p rocesses an d p h en o m - en a, w h ere p ossible, w h en p lan n in g an d im p lem en tin g in terven tion s in th e en v i- ron m en t;  Protectin g geod iversity as an essen tial a s- p ect of th e d evelop m en t of life an d biod i- versity, cu ltu ral an d social d iversity, an d th e su stain able d evelop m en t of com m u n i- ties;  En h an cin g geoh eritage, w h ich brin gs t o- geth er scien tific an d cu ltu ral factors th at h ave in trin sic social an d econ om ic valu e, to stren gth en th e sen se of b elon gin g of p eop le for th eir en viron m en t; AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, Fast Track 7, 2017; d oi: 10.4401/ ag-7553 6  En su rin g su stain ability of econ om ic an d so- cial activities in ord er to assu re fu tu re ge n - eration s’ su p p ly of en ergy an d oth er n at u ral resou rces.  Prom otin g geo-ed u cation an d ou treach for all, to fu rth er su stain able econ om ic d eve l- op m en t, geoh az ard p reven tion an d m itig a- tion , en viron m en tal p rotection , an d in - creased societal resilien ce an d w ell-bein g. Geoethical Promise Th e ad op tion of th e follow in g H ip p ocratic-like oath (th e “Geoeth ical Prom ise”) by early -career geoscien tists is p rop osed , to p rom ote resp ect for geoeth ics v alu es in geoscien ce research an d p ractice: I promise… … I will practice geosciences being fully aware of the societal implications, and I will do my best for the protection of the Earth system for the benefit of humankind. … I understand my responsibilities towards society, future generations and the Earth for sustainable de- velopment. … I will put the interest of society foremost in my work. … I will never misuse my geoscience knowledge, resisting constraint or coercion. … I will always be ready to provide my professional assistance when needed, and will be impartial in making my expertise available to decision makers. … I will continue lifelong development of my geo- scientific knowledge. … I will always maintain intellectual honesty in my work, being aware of the limits of my competencies and skills. … I will act to foster progress in the geoscien ces, the sharing of geoscientific knowledge, and the dissemi- nation of the geoethical approach. … I will always be fully respectful of Earth process- es in my work as a geoscientist. I promise! Final Statement It is essen tial to en rich th e roles an d resp on s i- bilities of geoscien tists tow ard s com m u n ities an d th e en viron m en ts in w h ich th ey d w ell, as w ell as p ayin g atten tion to each scien tist’s in - d ivid u al con scien ce an d relation sh ip s w ith co l- leagu es. H u m an com m u n ities w ill face great en viron m en tal ch allen ges in th e fu tu re. Geosci- en tists h ave kn ow -h ow th at is essen tial to or i- en tate societies tow ard s m ore su stain able p ra c- tices in ou r con sciou s in ter action s w ith th e Earth system . Ap p lyin g a w id er kn ow led ge - base th an n atu ral scien ces, geoscien tists n eed to take m u ltid iscip lin ary ap p roach es to econ om ic an d en viron m en tal p roblem s, em bracin g (geo)eth ical an d social p ersp ectives. Geoscie n - tists are p rim arily at th e service of society. Th is is th e d eep er p u rp ose of th eir activity. In th e com in g years, esp ecially w h en ad d ress- in g m atters like en ergy su p p ly, u se of geo - resou rces, lan d m an agem en t, p ollu tion abat e- m en t, m itigation of geo -risks, an d clim ate ch an ge ad ap tation an d m itigation , eth ical an d social issu es w ill be cen tral in scien tific d iscu s- sion an d in p u blic d ebate. In ad d ition , h an d lin g large qu an tities of d ata, scien ce an d risk co m - m u n ication , ed u cation strategies, issu es of r e- search in tegrity, an ti-h arassm en t an d an ti- d iscrim in ation p olicies, gen d er balan ce an d in - clu sion of th ose livin g w ith d isabilities w ill be m ajor top ics for geoscien tists. Raisin g th e (geo)eth ical aw aren ess an d com p e- ten ces of th e m em bers of th e geoscien ce co m - m u n ity is essen tial, also to in crease tru st an d cred ibility am on g th e p u blic. Th is can best be ach ieved in th e n ear fu tu re by tw o m ean s: by p rom otin g m ore effectively existin g gu id an ce su ch as cod es of eth ics/ con d u ct an d research in tegrity statem en ts; an d by in trod u cin g ge o- eth ics in to geoscien ce cu rricu la, to m ake geo- eth ics a basic featu re of th e train in g an d p rofe s- sion al activity of geoscien tists. N ote: The Cape Town Statement on Geoethics was pre- pared during the 35th IGC – International Geologi- cal Congress in Cape Town, South A frica (27 A u- gust – 4 September 2016). Drafting Committee: Giuseppe Di Capua, Silvia Peppoloni, Peter T. Bobrowsky. W ith the contribution of: N ic Bilham, M artin Bohle, A ndy Clay, Emilia Hermelinda Lop- era-Parejas, David M ogk. A pproved by the IA PG Executive Council on 26 October 2016. W ebsite: http://www.geoethics.org/ctsg