Sustainable development of our natural environment and the safeguarding of future access to these resources requires geoscientific expertise and an understanding of geological processes.

Increasing population pressure is also resulting in more people living in areas affected by natural hazards such as: earthquakes; volcanic eruptions; landslides; tsunamis; and floods - all of which require geological knowledge in the identification, assessment, management, and mitigation of their hazard potential. By definition a natural hazard is a natural event that makes a harmful impact on human beings and their environment; a physical event is not a hazard unless people are affected by its impact.

Since environmental problems are not restriced by international boundaries, and as interchange of experience is crucial, international cooperation between geoscientists has become important in the field of geoscience for environmental planning.

Against this background the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) decided to establish a Commission to address this new and strongly developing field, and in early 1990 the Commission on Geological Sciences for Environmental Planning (COGEOENVIRONMENT) was launched.

COGEOENVIRONMENT aims to provide an active link between the results of geoscientific research and societal needs with respect to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment and the built environment. Topics of particular concern include the prediction and mitigation of natural and human-induced hazards, the promotion of sustainable development with respect to land-use and exploitation of natural resources, understanding of ecosystems, geological influences on health, as well as the encouragement of proper environmental planning and management that takes into account geoscientific knowledge. Refer also to COGEOENVIRONMENT Objectives.

COGEOENVIRONMENT is primarily concerned with the production and dissemination of information in direct support of its aims and objectives. This is done by:

• establishing specialist International Working Groups aimed at providing technical information to fill identified gaps in scientific knowledge.
• publication of monographs resulting from the Working Groups
• publication of brochures to assist both geoscience professionals and non-scientific users, or potential users, to become more aware of the role of geoscience in their activities.
• sponsoring special sessions/workshops at international conferences - wherever possible in collaboration with associated professional organisations.
• publishing and distributing a Newsletter twice a year

As a consequence of its interdisciplinary character and as a potential policy tool to assist in furthering its objectives, COGEOENVIRONMENT has established many official links with other related organisations, such as AGID, CSPG, COGEOED, COGEOINFO, ESCAP, IAEG, IAG, IAH, IAMG, IAVCEI, ICSU (SCOPE), INQUA, ISCRP, and UNESCO.

COGEOENVIRONMENT is a non-profit organisation, it has no paid staff. It operates on the basis of voluntary input from Officers and Members, and the financial input of the IUGS, Supporting Members, and assisting organisations such as national geological surveys. The management, administration, and operations of COGEOENVIRONMENT are overseen by the Officers.