ICGG Successfully Held the 3rd Session of the 1st Governing Board and Scientific Committee

The UNESCO International Centre on Global-Scale Geochemistry (ICGG), hosted within the premises of the Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration, China Geological Survey, Ministry of Natural Resources, has successfully lowered the curtain for the 3rd Session of the 1st Governing Board and Scientific Committee online.

During the Session, the Governing Board Councilors listened to and approved the biennial report made by the Director of the Secretariat of the ICGG, adopted the report on the changes of the administrative personnel of the ICGG and the proposal to renew the agreement between UNESCO and China. The Councilors agreed that the ICGG has fully fulfilled the Agreement and the commitments made by the China government and completed the goals and tasks in accordance with the Six-Year Plan.

The Scientific Committee listened to the scientific report made by the Chief Scientist of the ICGG, shared the outlook on the future development of the ICGG. First and Foremost, they fully affirmed and praised the achievements of the international scientific cooperation project "Chemical Earth", through which, ICGG has newly covered 18.1 million square kilometers of the global geochemical baselines network. The primarily established geochemical baselines network has covered 1/3 of the world’s land area. Also, the ICGG has compiled the world’s first geochemical baselines map and built up the "Chemical Earth" big data platform to provide authoritative data for geoscientific researches and the sustainable development of global natural resources and environments. Secondly, ICGG has preliminarily established the China Geochemical Monitoring Network and completed the second round of monitoring work. Thirdly ICGG has carried out bilateral cooperation with 11 countries, completed the 1:1 million national-scale geochemical mapping covering a total area of 3.5 million square kilometers, compiled the first geochemical maps for the cooperation countries, which has greatly promoted the growth of geochemical technologies in the cooperation countries. Fourthly, the geochemical mapping technologies, softwares and technical standards developed by the ICGG have been broadly promoted and applied in the developing countries. ICGG also provides technical assistance to developing countries, till now, 856 professionals from 52 countries of 6 continents have participated in the technical training courses held by ICGG and acquired win-win results. Fifthly, ICGG has forged a great international cooperation network consisting of more than 400 scientists who are willing to participate in the “Chemical Earth” project from across the world. To summarize, all the Scientific Committee members are in support for implementing the "Chemical Earth" project to serve the sustainable development of global resources and environments and build a beautiful home for mankind.