Karen Hanghøj, Director of the British Geological Survey, delivered the 2026 Geological Survey Ireland Geoscience Lecture on the topic, ‘Why does Net Zero need Geoscience?’ on Thursday evening, January 29th, 2026. Co-programmed with the Royal Irish Academy’s Geography and Geosciences Committee, the annual Geological Survey Ireland Lecture brings world-class Irish and international geoscientists to an Ireland-based audience to talk to a variety of important and relevant geoscientific and societal themes. 

The lecture was followed by a panel discussion chaired by Eoin McGrath, Head of the Minerals Programme at Geological Survey Ireland, with additional panellists Marie Cowan (Director Geological Survey Northern Ireland), Pat Meere (University College Cork – ForMovFluid), and Mike Stock (Trinity College Dublin). Topics covered in the discussion included the respective roles of geoscience research and geological surveys in the push for Net Zero, as well as the importance of communicating the critical contribution of geoscience in global decarbonisation to all key stakeholders including policy makers and the wider public.