GfGD's 2024 Annual Report

 
 

We are pleased to announce the release of 2024’s Annual Report. The document outlines how we continued our efforts in championing the role of geology in sustainable development during the last year. The full report is available as a pdf, and we’ve provided some highlights below.

Highlights from 2024

  • 2024 marked the second full year of our strategy implementation period and was significant for us in deepening the partnerships required to address the lack of progress being made on many SDG targets:

    • we worked with GESINA Initiative for Geoscience Sustainability working across West Africa to improve understanding of how geoscientists can deliver meaningful change,

    • we joined a Global Policy Task Team, meeting regularly with representatives from other international geoscience organisations to strengthen the science policy interface,

    • we joined with the International Union of Geological Science’s Commission on Geoscience Education to explore how teaching on natural hazards could be strengthened; public understanding of geoscience topics supports both informed action and holding those in authority to account.

  • We used the resources available to us to deliver the priorities set out in our strategy aiming to transform understanding of, access to, and capacity to use the geoscience required to implement the SDGs:

    • we advanced research on topics including water management, climate action, and disaster risk reduction,

    • we contributed to intergovernmental forums, reflecting on the critical role that geoscientists can make to sustainability goals,

    • we supported training – through webinars and an open-access course – that benefit the global geoscience community and strengthen their ability to deliver a sustainable and resilient future.

From our Trustees

GfGD’s trustees continue to be inspired and impressed by the quality and range of outputs and impacts our team are able to achieve with modest resources. The time and energy of all those involved, while not reflected in our financial statements, is our most precious resource, and we are immensely grateful.

Charitable Objectives

GfGD provides public benefit (nationally and internationally) through the following charitable objectives: educational advancement, and poverty prevention and relief.

Strategy

Our purpose is to help build a sustainable future for all by transforming understanding of, access to, and capacity to use the geoscience required to implement the SDGs. Recognising the need to address these challenges, and with a focus on ‘leaving no one behind’, four interlinked strategic priorities are shaping our activities from 2022 to 2031:

  1. Shape and advance the geoscience research and communication agenda for sustainable development

  2. Understand and address the barriers that prevent geoscience being used effectively in sustainable development

  3. Empower the global geoscience community to contribute to sustainable development

  4. Create an organisation that models the values embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals

Activities

In seeking to fulfil our objectives and provide broad public benefit, we have undertaken the following charitable activities, expressed through the first three of our strategic priorities:

  1. Shape and advance the geoscience research and communication agenda for sustainable development.

  2. Understand and address the barriers that prevent geoscience being used effectively in sustainable development.

  3. Empower the global geoscience community to contribute to sustainable development.

These activities demonstrate the positive impact of Geology for Global Development, with respect to our two primary charitable objectives: educational advancement and poverty prevention and relief.

Governance and Management

A Board of Trustees were appointed to oversee and guide our work, and the Team, which expanded in 2024 with recruits from the UK, Kenya and Canada, are responsible for the day-to-day running of GfGD.

Financial Overview

Many of our activities were delivered through the dedication of a team of volunteers, representing significant in-kind support not shown in our financial statements. We are very grateful to all those who gave their time in 2024 to help realise our charitable objectives.

Please read the report for the full financial overview.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Some of our work on EDI in 2024 includes safeguarding in international development contexts, improving volunteer coordination as we expand our team, and increasing online engagement.

The Future

In 2025, we will continue to deliver high quality and impact-driven research. This includes consolidating, extending, and disseminating GfGD-led work on research themes, including (a) strengthening the science-policy interface, (b) improving geoscience education in the Global South, (c) improving access to water in Africa, and (d) tackling climate change, and delivering training at the Colloquium of African Geology (Nairobi, September 2025).

The 2024 Annual Report is available for download now. Previous GfGD Annual Reports, dating back to 2016, can also available be found on our website.

Amrine Dubois Gafar