Geological Society of America

The report by Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) examines the Geological Society of America's (GSA) financial relationships with fossil fuel companies and its lack of investment transparency. While acknowledging GSA's public support for climate action, SGR highlights contradictions between GSA's position statements and its acceptance of sponsorships from companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron, which do not align with 2°C warming limits. SGR argues that GSA's failure to disclose specific investments and its reliance on fossil fuel funding undermine its role as a scientific thought-leader and calls for divestment to support a transition to renewable energy.

• The Geological Society of America (GSA) lacks an ethical investment policy and does not disclose the specific funds or corporations where its $31.3m in securities (as of December 2019) are held.
• GSA receives significant corporate sponsorship from fossil fuel companies, including ExxonMobil as a 'Double Diamond' sponsor (donating $40,000+), and 'Platinum' or 'Gold' sponsorships from Chesapeake Energy, Anadarko Petroleum (now Occidental Petroleum), and Chevron.
• ExxonMobil provides an ongoing grant for the ExxonMobil/GSA Student Geoscience Grants, where the corporation selects up to ten proposals from a list of 30 recommended by the GSA Research Grant Committee.
• While GSA has a position statement supporting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change research, it has not set its own organizational targets to reduce emissions.
• SGR notes that GSA's sponsors—Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Anadarko Petroleum—do not align with pathways to limit global warming to 2°C or below according to the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), and none have committed to Science Based Targets initiative criteria.
• SGR argues that divestment from fossil fuel companies is necessary to increase the cost of capital for the industry, thereby reducing their ability to explore and exploit resources and helping meet Paris Agreement targets.

APA

Scientists for Global Responsibility (n.d.). Geological Society of America. https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-02/The_Geological_Society_of_America_Report.pdf

Chicago

Scientists for Global Responsibility. Geological Society of America. n.d. https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-02/The_Geological_Society_of_America_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Scientists for Global Responsibility |title=Geological Society of America |url=https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-02/The_Geological_Society_of_America_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{scientistsforglobalresponsibilityndgeological, author = {{Scientists for Global Responsibility}}, title = {{Geological Society of America}}, institution = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-02/The_Geological_Society_of_America_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }