Geography and Sustainability

Abstract

The great challenges of sustainable development highlight an urgent need to systematically understand the mech- anisms linking humans and nature. Resources and Environmental Sciences are a broad and practical discipline focused on coupled human and natural systems. They aim to study the formation and evolution of resources in the earth system, the drivers of various environmental problems, processes and relationships between resources and the environment, particularly under the combined impacts of natural conditions and human activities. The major resources and environmental problems drive the discipline development; international science programmes guide the direction of the discipline; interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary integration promotes new branches of the discipline; and technological progress results in a research paradigm shift. Facing the critical research re- quirements of strengthening trans- and interdisciplinarity, breaking through the key technology, targeting major environmental and disaster issues, and supporting sustainable development, nine critical scientific issues should be focused on climate change impact and adaptation, petroleum and mineral resources, water cycle and water re- sources, soil and land resources, ecosystems, remote sensing and geographic information science, environmental science and technology, disaster risk, and global and regional sustainable development. Suggestions to enhancing funding systems, improve talent cultivation, develop scientific platforms, and strength international cooperation are provided in this study to support scientific policymaking. The promotion of Resources and Environmental Sci- ences enables a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of economic development and environmental changes relevant to assure a more sustainable global development.