On 8th and 9th May, 2017, the conference ‘EU-Latin America Dialogue on Raw Materials: consolidating the co-operation’ was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was attended by over 50 high-level delegates from Latin American countries, the European Commission, Geological Surveys, international organisations, and European projects. It was the last of a series of conferences in the frame of the EU-Latin America Policy Dialogue on Raw Materials, after the ones held in Lima, Peru (2014), Cartagena de Indias, Colombia (2015) and Santiago, Chile (2016). The ‘Dialogue’, aiming at improving cooperation on raw materials between the European Union and Latin American countries, has focused on cooperation in investment, technology, research and innovation and exchange of good practices on good governance between the two sides of the Atlantic. The Buenos Aires conference subject was on expanding the opportunities for multilateral investments through the new Mineral Development Network Platform; sharing tangible solutions for promptly meeting the increased standards for sustainable mining practices; highlighting the EU companies’ mining expertise and bolster business opportunities. During the conference, participants shared mineral policies best practices. The Secretary General of EuroGeoSurveys gave a speech on ‘Towards a World Forum on Raw Materials’, where he discussed the FORAM project, explaining how the project is organized and the future developments. In particular, he invited the participants not yet involved to become partners of the FORAM Stakeholders Network. The speech raised a big deal of attention, and the European Commission later sent to all participants the information for joining the...

International cooperation on natural resources: geoscientists’ contribution to enhanced governance, policy making and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals EuroGeoSurveys will attend the “International cooperation on natural resources: geoscientists’ contribution to enhanced governance, policy making and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals” Conference that will be held on the 9-10 February 2017 at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, in Brussels. EuroGeoSurveys Secretary General Luca Demicheli will be present at the Panel Session Socio-economic and environmental drivers for natural resources development and management on the 10th of February. The conference will foster the convergence of terminology and the comparability/compatibility of data, thus contributing to the creation of a solid European Knowledge Database on mineral and energy resources. Such harmonization is equally important to government policymakers and to companies and regulators within the energy and minerals industries, including the users and providers of data on energy and minerals reserves and resources and renewable energy. UNFC will be reviewed, including its potential for application in Europe and beyond and its relationship with other classification and public reporting systems. There will be presentations from speakers representing a range of relevant UNECE and European policy areas linked to energy and minerals, as well as from international and European experts drawn from regulatory authorities, industry and non-governmental organizations. There will also be contributions from representatives of fossil and renewable energy companies, the mining industry and academia. The event is co-organized by the European Federation of Geologists (EFG) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).   [source: EFG...