By Martha Agas
A geologist, Prof. Akinade Olatunji, says geosciences are vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through providing tools to understand, manage and sustain essential physical systems.
Olatunji, of the Department of Geology, University of Ibadan, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja that the physical systems were required to achieve the SDGs.
He said that for SDGs One, Two, Three and Six, focusing on poverty, hunger, health and clean water to be achieved, geosciences contribute through soil mapping for food security, hydrogeology for water resources and geochemistry to detect toxic elements.
He said that geosciences support SDGs Seven, Nine and 11 by mapping renewable energy resources, exploring critical minerals and ensuring geotechnical stability for infrastructure and sustainable urban development.
According to him, SDGs 12, 13, 14 and 15, which focus on responsible consumption, climate action, oceans and land benefits from geosciences through coastal hazard mitigation, ecosystem restoration, carbon capture and resource tracking for a circular economy must be achieved.
Stressing the importance of geoscience data and infrastructure, Olatunji noted that achieving SDG two (Zero Hunger) relies on soil and land assessments.
This, he said, was particularly in using Landsat and Digital Earth Africa to predict crops performance, analyse soil fertility and combat desertification.
For SDG Three, he emphasised the role of geotechnical health tracking to detect naturally occurring toxic elements in soil and water before they trigger non-communicable diseases and poverty traps.
Regarding SDG one (No Poverty), he highlighted resource independence, empowering rural communities through sustainable access to groundwater, fertile land and safe small-scale mining.
He added that geotechnical stability prevents building collapses and infrastructure failure by characterising soil strength and rock stability before construction begins.
“Urban geology informs underground space planning and prevents settlement in high-risk zones example is mapping gully erosion hotspots in South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
“Coastal urban resilience where ground water studied prevents water logging and foundation failure in rapidly expanding coastal cities like Lagos and Port Harcourt,” he said.
According to him, geotechnical investigations guarantee the long-term stability of massive wind turbine foundations and hydropower dams.
He added that geosciences drives the sustainable exploration of lithium, copper, rare earths and cobalt required for batteries and wind turbines.
