The

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences for the advancement of sustainable development.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

was designated as the lead agency. The Year's activities spanned the three years 2006–2009.International Year of Planet Earth: FAQ
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Goals

The Year aimed to raise $20 million from industry and governments, of which half was to be spent on co-funding research, and half on "outreach" activities. It was intended to be the biggest ever international effort to promote the Earth sciences. Apart from researchers, who were expected to benefit under the Year's Science Programme, the principal target groups for the Year's broader messages were: * Decision makers and politicians, to better inform them about the how Earth scientific knowledge can be used for sustainable development * The voting public, to communicate to them how Earth scientific knowledge can contribute to a better society * Geoscientists, to help them use their knowledge of various aspects of the Earth for the benefit of the world’s population. The research themes of the year, set out in ten science prospectuses, were chosen for their societal relevance, multidisciplinary nature, and outreach potential. The Year had twelve founding partners, 23 associate partners, and was backed politically by 97 countries representing 87% of the world’s population. The Year was promoted politically at

and at the United Nations in New York by the People’s Republic of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. The Year encouraged contributions from researchers within ten separate themes. The outreach programme worked in a similar way, receiving bids for support from individuals and organisations worldwide. The Year's Project Leader was former IUGS President Professor Eduardo F J de Mulder. The Year's Science Committee was chaired by Professor Edward Derbyshire (

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

) and its Outreach Committee by Dr Ted Nield (

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

). The International Year of Planet Earth project was initiated jointly by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (

). The UN press release reads:

By a draft on the International Year of Planet Earth, 2008, which the Committee approved without a vote on 11 November, the Assembly would declare 2008 the International Year of Planet Earth. It would also designate the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to organize activities to be undertaken during the Year, in collaboration with
UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...
and other relevant United Nations bodies, the International Union of Geological Sciences and other Earth sciences societies and groups throughout the world. Also by that draft, the Assembly would encourage Member States, the United Nations system and other actors to use the Year to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences in achieving sustainable development and promoting local, national, regional and international action.

Background

The project was backed by the following founding partners: *

International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG; french: Union géodésique et géophysique internationale, UGGI) is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to the scientific study of Earth and its space environment us ...

(IUGG) *

International Geographical Union The International Geographical Union (IGU; french: Union Géographique Internationale, UGI) is an international geographical society. The first International Geographical Congress was held in Antwerp in 1871. Subsequent meetings led to the estab ...

International Union of Soil Sciences The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), founded in 1924 under the name ''International Society of Soil Science'', is a scientific union and member of the International Council for Science (ICSU). The Union has 86 national and regional m ...

(IUSS) * International Lithosphere Programme (ILP) * National Geological Survey of the Netherlands (NITG-TNO) *

* International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) *A consortium of the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG) * International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) *

International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering The International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) is an international professional association, presently based in London, representing engineers, academics and contractors involved in geotechnical engineering. It ...

(ISSMGE) *

International Union for Quaternary Research The International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) was founded in 1928. It has members from a number of scientific disciplines who study the environmental changes that occurred during the glacial ages, the last 2.6 million years. One go ...

(INQUA) *

American Geological Institute The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is a nonprofit federation of about 50 geoscientific and professional organizations that represents geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. The organization was founded in 1948. The name of ...

(AGI) * American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) * American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) The Year was also supported by 23 Associate Partners, including all major international geoscientific and other relevant organisations: * International Council for Science (ICSU) *

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO. It first met in Paris at Unesco Headquarters from 19 to 27 October 1961. Initially, 40 States becam ...

of UNESCO (IOC) *

International Permafrost Association The International Permafrost Association (IPA), founded in 1983, has as its objectives to foster the dissemination of knowledge concerning permafrost and to promote cooperation among persons and national or international organisations engaged in ...

(IPA) * International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (IAGOD) *

Society of Economic Geologists The Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) is a scientific organization that promotes the study of geology as it relates to mining, mineral exploration, mineral resource classification and mineral extraction. The society's Publication Board publishe ...

(SEG) *

Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

(SGA) *

International Association of Hydrogeologists The International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) is a scientific and educational organisation whose aims are to promote research into and understanding of the proper management and protection of groundwater for the common good throughout th ...

(IAH) *

International Geoscience Programme The International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGCP) is a cooperative enterprise of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and the International Union of Geological Sciences The International Union ...

(IGCP) *

European Federation of Geoscientists European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

(EFG) *

African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

(AARSE) *

Science Council of Asia Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

(SCA) * European Association for the Conservation of the Geological Heritage (ProGEO) *

Society for Sedimentary Geology The Society for Sedimentary Geology is an international not-for-profit, scientific society based in Oklahoma. It is commonly referred to by its acronym SEPM, which refers to its former name, the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. ...

(SEPM) * Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP) * Geological Society of Africa (GSAf) *

United Nations University The (UNU) is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve global issues related to human development and welfare thr ...

(UNU) * Association of Geoscientists for International Development (AGID) *

United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) was created in December 1999 to ensure the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (General Assembly (GA) resolution 54/219).

(UN/ISDR) * North-eastern Science Foundation (USA) (NESF) * Association of American State Geologists (AASG) * International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) *

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...

(GSA) * North American Committee for Stratigraphic Nomenclature (NACSN)

Objectives

The Year's stated objective was to:

Reduce risks for society caused by natural and human-induced hazards, reduce health problems by improving understanding of the medical aspects of Earth science, discover new
natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...
s and make them available in a sustainable manner, build safer structures and expand
urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...
s, utilizing natural subsurface conditions, determine the non-human factor in climatic change, enhance understanding of the occurrence of natural resources so as to contribute to efforts to reduce political tension, detect deep and poorly accessible groundwater resources, improve understanding of the
evolution of life Evolution is change in the heredity, heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the Gene expression, expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to ...
, increase interest in the Earth sciences in society at large, encourage more young people to study Earth science in university.

Themes

Research themes for the Year included: *

Groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...

: reservoir for a thirsty planet? * Hazards: minimizing risk, maximizing awareness *Earth and

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

: building a safer environment *

Climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

: the ‘stone tape’ *

Resource Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their ...

Issues: towards sustainable use * Megacities: going deeper, building safer *Deep

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

: from crust to

core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the centra ...

Ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

: abyss of time *

Soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

: Earth’s living skin *Earth and

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

: origins of diversity

Output and Legacy

As part of the IYPE legacy, 80 National and Regional IYPE Committees were set up to bring together key figures from various organisations into a single campaign dedicated to raising awareness of the Earth sciences among decision makers and the public. The Young Earth-Science Initiative (YES) was also created, providing a platform for young professionals in the

Earth sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

. Initiated by two Italian geoscientists, David Govoni and Luca Micucci, it started in 2007 and grew rapidly at the Global Launch Event of the IYPE in Paris in 2008, during which many young geoscientists were invited to participate. From there, the YES Initiative expanded, eventually adopting a formal structure, a network of supporting organisations (including IYPE) and an invitation by the Chinese government to host the first International YES Conference in October 2009 in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. An international collaborative project known as OneGeology was launched, aiming to bring together geological data from all nations into a digital database and thus transform them into a single computer language, providing free access to the online digital geological world map in the scale of 1:1 million. That initiative, spearheaded by Ian Jackson of the British Geological Survey, came under the IYPE banner in 2007.

References

External links

Yearofplanetearth.org: official International Year of Planet Earth website

ESFS.org: Planet Earth-file (pdf)
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Year Of Planet Earth 2008 in the environment

Earth sciences History of Earth science 2008 festivals 2008 in the United Nations Biology conferences Earth science conferences Science conferences Year Of Planet Earth Year Of Planet Earth