Climate Change: From the President
The President provides an update on the Society’s stance on climate change
Some time ago, several Fellows and other geologists wrote an open letter to the President questioning the current consensus that climate change is driven by human activity and specifically carbon emissions, entitled 'There is no climate emergency.' (https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2018/06/15/an-open-letter-to-the-geological-society/ ). The open letter was also the subject of a question to me at the most recent Annual General Meeting. In the past month, it was revealed that some Fellows are co-signatories of a letter to the European Union and United Nations promoting similar ideas (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6385405-CLINTEL-Denier-Letter-Leaked.html).
In 2010, the Society published a document entitled ‘Climate Change—Evidence from the Geological Record’, with an addendum in 2013. This document is currently under review. In 2015, the Society, together with 23 other learned and professional societies, published a joint communiqué on climate change (https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/climate-communique ). It is prefaced with the text “The scientific evidence is now overwhelming that the climate is warming and that human activity is largely responsible for this change through emissions of greenhouse gases”.
While the Society has no wish to impose its views on individual members or stifle debate, the communiqué continues to be the stated position of the Society on global climate change.
Prof Nick Rogers, President