International Geosciences Programme - IGCP 2020 Annual Report IGCP 2020 UNESCO annual report Table of Contents 1 Introduction.................................................................................................. 2 2 Definition of IGCP ........................................................................................ 3 3 Summary of IGCP in 2020 ........................................................................... 4 4 UNESCO IGCP Secretariat 2020 activities ................................................. 5 4.1-International Geoscience Programme Council Session ............................. 5 4.2-IGCP 2020 New Project Proposal Call and definition of IGCP themes……………................................................................................................. 6 4.3-Appointment of new IGCP Council members and Scientific Board members……….. .......................................................................................... 10 4.4-Consultation with global Earth science expert community ..................... 12 4.5-Partnership agreement with IFPEN ............................................................ 13 4.6-Publications and lectures ............................................................................ 14 5 IGCP Projects 2020 Summary .................................................................. 16 5.1-IGCP Project leaders in 2020 ...................................................................... 16 5.2-IGCP Project Activities in 2020 ................................................................... 18 6 IGGP 2020 Financial Summary ................................................................ 21 1 IGCP 2020 UNESCO annual report 1 Introduction Developing an advanced understanding of the Earth’s fundamental processes and resources is essential to accomplish the United Nations sustainable development goals. UNESCO is the only United Nations organization with a mandate to support research and capacity in Earth Sciences and the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme is our flagship. The International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) consists of two pillars: 1. International Geoscience Programme (IGCP), since 1972, has harnessed the intellectual capacity of a worldwide network of geoscientists to lay the foundation for our planet’s future, focusing on responsible and environmental resource extraction, natural hazard resiliency and preparedness, and adaptability in the era of a changing climate. 2. UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGp) are laboratories for sustainable development, which promote the recognition and management of Earth heritage, and the sustainability of local communities. As of December 2020, there are 161UNESCO Global Geoparks within 44 Member States. UNESCO’s International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) is implemented through these two activities: The International Geoscience Programme, a co-operative venture with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), and the UNESCO Global Geoparks. They coordinate their work through a shared UNESCO Secretariat and joint coordination meetings of their respective bureau, which convene as necessary. The chairpersons of the two respective Councils co-chair the IGGP. In the framework of the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP), this report is drafted by UNESCO IGGP Secretariat. This report summarizes: • UNESCO IGCP Secretariat 2020 activities, • The results, scientific achievements and the project activities of IGCP projects in 2020 • Details of 24 new IGCP project proposals received as of 15 October 2020 for the evaluation of the IGCP Scientific Board in March 2021. UNESCO Global Geoparks 5th Council meeting report was published separately and is available at UNESCO’s website. 2 IGCP 2020 UNESCO annual report 2 Definition of IGCP The International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) serves as a knowledge hub of UNESCO to facilitate international scientific cooperation in the geosciences. The IGCP mission includes promoting sustainable use of natural resources, advancing new initiatives related to geo- diversity and geo-heritage and geohazards risk mitigation. Since 1972, the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) has partnered with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) to bring together thousands of Earth scientists from around the world allowing them to benefit from the cooperative spirit generated under the umbrella of UNESCO. The IGCP promotes collaborative projects with a special emphasis on the benefit to society, capacity-building, and the advancement and sharing of knowledge between scientists with an emphasis on North-South and South-South cooperation. IGCP operates by providing seed funding grants donated by UNESCO, IUGS and extra-budgetary sources such as Jeju Province development Corporation (JPDC) and Republic of China National Commission to UNESCO. IGCP projects primarily deal with geosciences on global issues within its five themes: • Earth Resources, • Global Change, • Geohazards, • Hydrogeology and • Geodynamics. New themes, in relevant topics in fundamental and applied geoscience, can be defined annually by the IGCP Council, UNESCO and IUGS. Each project has an average lifespan of five years and its progress is assessed annually through a rigorous peer- review process conducted by the IGCP Council following the evaluation reports from members of the Scientific Board made during the first half of February. The Scientific Board and IGCP Council are also responsible for evaluating new project proposals. The Scientific Board consists of about 60 specialists responsible for the technical reviews and it works electronically only. Board members are appointed as specialists in their given field for each of the five IGCP themes, with preferably an overlap in the Earth sciences fields, and reflects a worldwide geographic distribution. The IGCP Council consists of six members, a chairperson and five experts, one for each IGCP theme and they meet annually at UNESCO Headquarters but in 2020 and 2021 these meetings had to be organized virtually. As the IGCP has a limited budget, IGCP support is specially allocated to support scientists from developing countries. 3 3 Summary of IGCP in 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic, as a global public health crisis, strongly resonated with UNESCO's core missions in 2020. The Organization, through its projects, sites and through its partnerships and cooperation with scientific community throughout the world, is committed to support and enhance scientific and educational cooperation and promotes solidarity-initiatives that help society to face this unprecedented crisis. IGCP statutory Meeting: In 2020, IGCP Council meeting was scheduled to physically meet on 13-17 March 2020, but due to COVID-19 precautions and safety measures, the evaluations were held online through videoconferencing between 12th and 16th of March 2020. In this meeting, the progress of the 31 ongoing projects was assessed and 26 new proposals - submitted as of October 2019 according to the guidelines of the Council – were reviewed. (Section 4.1). The 2020 IGCP Council also adopted a new vision on new special topics for prioritization in the IGCP 2020 call for project proposal. In 2020, the IGCP UNESCO secretariat received 24 new IGCP project proposals, which is aligned with the increase observed since 2017 (Table 1). IGCP project activities in 2020: in 2020, the council approved 18 new projects. Overall, 43 projects were active; 36 projects were eligible to receive financial support from UNESCO, IUGS, the Jeju Province Development Corporation (JPDC) of the Republic of Korea and the UNESCO National Commission for the People’s Republic of China. However, five projects received full or partial funding and were able to deliver their activities. In 2020, 43 IGCP projects were able to reach thousands of people through their online activities. Early in the year, two IGCP leaders delivered in-person meetings in India and Myanmar. Throughout 2020, the IGCP leaders delivered an animated video, mini-courses, short webinars, and 35 seminar lectures. The digital material is available online on the IGCP website. Consultation with experts: UNESCO IGGP secretariat launched a survey to consult experts from the international earth sciences community on their views regarding strategic directions for UNESCO's action in the field of Earth sciences, in line with the organization's mandate. Combining the results of this survey, along with the vision and goals from its councils and the Internal Oversight Services (IOS) evaluation report of the program generated early 2020, the secretariats drafted a report as requested by the Bureau of Strategic Planning (BSP). Agreement with IFPEN: IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN) and UNESCO have signed a framework partnership agreement concerning research and training in the field of geoscience. This collaboration mobilizes IFPEN’s expertise to support the priorities of UNESCO’s International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP), such as the promotion and understanding of the “Earth Systems” and sustainable use of natural resources. IGCP capacity building activities: In late 2020, UNESCO IGCP Secretariat, in collaboration with IUGS and iCRAG, launched a series of Earth sciences lectures designed for a global audience. These are providing diverse perspectives on Earth materials and their role in society and can be found here. More than 4,000 people from 145 countries had registered for the series. In 2020, UNESCO IGCP Secretariat designed and delivered