Geoscience provides assets for sustainable development

The UNCED Environmental Conference in Rio de Janeiro 1992 has changed the w orld. Geoscientists entered the environmental field relatively late, howeve r, geological surveys and geoscientific research institutes adapted to this situation and have placed geo-environmental, issues high on their agendas. This paper discusses their role against the background of the most relevan t issues in 'sustainable development' for the next decade. These include wa ter; soil, poverty alleviation, urbanisation, waste disposal, energy, miner als, disaster reduction and education. Although geoscientists cannot preven t nor cure all of the world's major problems, their ability to cope with lo ng time and wide space scales together with their advanced technologies can and must contribute to solving many of society's problems. This, however, requires a new and untraditional type of geoscientist.