Seminar on “Chemical Earth” International Big Science Program was Successfully Held
The Seminar on “Chemical Earth” International Big Science Program was successfully held in Langfang, Hebei Province by the UNESCO International Centre on Global-Scale Geochemistry (hereinafter referred to as the “Centre”, ICGG) recently, the seminar aims to discuss frontier developments in global-scale geochemistry, international collaboration, and future plans.
During the seminar, experts highly praised a series of internationally influential achievements made by ICGG since it launched the International Big Science Program. Representatives from ICGG presented the progress of the “Chemical Earth” Big Science Program, including the establishment of the global geochemical baselines network covering 35% of the Earth's land surface, the development of China's Geochemical Observation Network, the completion of the “Chemical Earth” big data platform, the completion of geochemical mapping covering over 350,000 square kilometers across 12 countries in the Tethys and Central Asian metallogenic belts, the production of geochemical atlases for 69 elements, the discovery of a large-scale rare earth deposit in the Honghe area of Yunnan Province, China, the formulation of the six international geochemical mapping technical guidelines, the establishment of an international cooperation network involving over 400 scientists from more than 40 countries, and the organization of 42 international workshops on geochemical mapping. These achievements, which have been incorporated into the 2023 and 2025 Progress Reports on the Implementation of the Global Development Initiative, have been commended by UNESCO, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), and other institutions, and have been medaled by partner governments. Experts also shared their latest progress and encountered challenges in geochemical mapping and environmental health research during the seminar, and discussed ways to strengthen international cooperation and promote the implementation of the International Big Science Program.
The seminar has successfully fostered strong consensus on establishing a more systematic and extensive global geochemical cooperation network. Moving forward, ICGG will continue to leverage its role as an international platform, dedicating itself to advancing the construction of the global geochemical baselines network, promoting the sharing of geochemical scientific data, developing technical standards, and enhancing global capacity-building, thereby providing robust scientific support for the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and for the sustainable development of global resources and the environment.
Over 80 experts, scholars, and institutional representatives from China, Australia, Sweden, Ireland, Colombia, Russia, Türkiye, Laos, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba, Pakistan, and other countries attended the seminar.