OBITUARY Professor Akin L. MABOGUNJE (18 October 1931 to 4 August 2022) It is with great sadness that IGU announces the death of one its greatest sons, former IGU President Professor Akin Mabogunje. Professor Akinlawon (Akin) Mabogunje died on Thursday, 4 August 2022 at the age of 90 years. Akin Mabogunje was the first African [...]
The Parvati Foundation, an international non-profit is leading the creation of the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) to protect one of the most important global life support systems, the Arctic Ocean. As the Arctic ice recedes year by year, global consequences multiply. While there is still a window of opportunity to avert total catastrophe, an [...]
In April 2022, dozens of geographers from across the globe participated in an online meeting of the world's geographical societies ahead of COP15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming. An initiative of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, in collaboration with the International Geographical Union, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and the Royal [...]
The widely used QEN Paleovegetation Atlas has existed for more than 20 years, but its maps were in a simple JPEG form, not in GIS form. This has limited their use for modelling in biogeography, archaeology and climate modelling. Thanks to funding generously provided by the School of Geography and Oceanography of Nanjing University, the [...]
The IGU Is pleased to announce the winners of its various awards. These will be presented at the Extraordinalr International Geographical Congress in Paris, 18th to 22nd July 2022. Two new awards were inaugurated this year: the IGU Award for Distinguished Practice and the Early Career Award, along with its long-standing Lauréat d'Honneur, and Planet [...]
The IGU Commission Excellence Award winner for 2021 is the IGU Commission on Rural Sustainability. The award recognizes the IGU Commission (or Task Force) that is judged as most successfully advancing the objectives of the IGU in, for example, encouraging and facilitating the involvement of young researchers, female researchers and researchers from low income countries [...]
Professor Jean-Robert Pitte, President of the French Societé de Geographié has written an open letter to Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoygu, respectively Chairman of the Board, and Executive President, of the Russian Geographical Society. We present here an English translation. the version in French can be found here Dear Presidents, I authorize myself to write [...]
Following on from the highly successful event held in June 2021 ahead of COP26 (Climate Change) in Glasgow, the IGU (in collaboration with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Royal Geographical Society) is co-hosting a second international gathering – this time in connection with COP15 on the UN Convention [...]
The International Geographical Union (IGU) has already expressed its strong objection to the invasion of Ukraine, an independent sovereign state, by Russian armed forces (see: https://igu-online.org/declaration-by-the-international-geographical-union-on-the-ukraine-crisis/). However, the escalation of the military offence and its consequent humanitarian crisis warrants our further response. The Executive Committee of the International Geographical Union (IGU) has, therefore, taken the [...]
Declaration by the International Geographical Union on the Ukraine crisis The International Geographical Union notes with dismay the alarming situation in Ukraine and finds the invasion of a sovereign democratic nation by Russian forces senseless and unacceptable. These actions are undermining global security and stability and have led to deplorable human suffering and loss of [...]
