GeoNews – EFG’s monthly newsletter| January 2025

Dear ICOG,

As usual, we start our monthly newsletter with a brief overview of the most relevant policy news for our profession.

The European Parliament’s Members’ Research Service presents a new edition of its annual “10 issues to watch” publication. The report aims at introducing key topics that have the potential to feature prominently in public debate and on the EU’s political agenda, including economic productivity, the 2040 climate target, investment capacity or electric vehicles, among others.

The European Commission invites you to contribute to its call for evidence regarding the planned Single Market Strategy 2025. The Strategy will promote the cross-border provision of services and cross-border movement of goods. It will strive to ensure the existing rules are fully implemented, to remove existing regulatory and administrative barriers and to prevent new ones. The deadline for contributing is 31 January.

As reports ScienceIBusiness, Members of the European Parliament have presented amendments for an ITRE report regarding the role of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology within the European Union’s upcoming framework programme for Research and Innovation (FP10).

For more policy news, please also make sure to check out our Panels of Experts sections here below.

The EFG Secretariat takes this occasion to wish you all the best for 2025!

EFG will be represented at BDG booth at GeoTHERM

This year’s edition of GeoTHERM, Europe’s largest geothermal trade fair and congress, will take place on 20 and 21 February in Offenburg, Germany.

EFG will be represented at the event by Janos Szanyi, coordinator of the EFG Panel of Experts on Geothermal. You can meet us at the booth of the Berufsverband Deutscher Geowissenschaftler, our German national member association!

The Pan-European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC) have released their latest newsletter summarising their activities during the second half of 2024, including a summary of outcomes of the last CRIRSCO AGM, and details of some of the planned activities for 2025.

PERC also draw your attention to the various training courses that will be held throughout 2025. You can find more information on their new dedicated training webpage.

The EFG Academy recently launched the first self-paced online courses:

• Where and Why H2 Accumulation Could Be Prospected by Dr. Isabelle Moretti
• Machine Learning for Geoscientists by Tom Meuzelaar
• Environmental Geochemistry and the Mine Project Life Cycle by Tom Meuzelaar

This offering has been developed based on previous live courses and the recordings are now available upon demand.

Are you about to start your career in geosciences? Or would you like to take your career to the next level?
We invite you to participate in the EFGeoMentoring scheme. Over a fixed period of 9 months, you will receive advice and targeted support from an experienced professional, according to your individual goals.
The EFGeoMentoring scheme is open to post-Bachelor students in any field of geosciences and geoscience professionals at all career stages.
Check the conditions for participation and sign up: https://bit.ly/3cB7Gmx

As part of the 2024 #EFGinclusion campaign, we recently featured a video statement from Dr. Silvia Paparella, General Manager of RemTech Expo, that we had the chance to record during COP29.

Women leaders like Silvia inspire inclusion and drive systemic change in traditionally male-dominated fields such as geoscience. Female geoscience experts not only deliver impactful messages but also set an example for younger professionals, highlighting the importance of representation in decision-making roles.

Learn more and stay tuned for the 2025 series of #EFGinclusion posts!