Non renewable resource issues : geoscientific and societal challenges Nearly everything we make or build and nearly all the energy we use comes out of the Earth. Modern society is increasingly dependent on mineral and fossil energy sources. They are non renewable they differ in their availability in the cost of production and in their geographical distribution. Growing demand have begun to restrict the availability of these resources. The Earth is not running out of critical mineral resources at least for the near future but the ability to explore for and produce those resources is being restricted in many regions by competing land use as well as political and environmental issues. Extraction of natural resources requires a clear focus on sustainable development involving economic environmental and social cultural aspects. Although we do not know what the most important resources will be in 100 years from now we can be quite certain that society will still need energy and a wide range of raw materials. These resources will include oil and gas coal uranium thorium geothermal metallic minerals specialty and industrial minerals including cement raw materials rare earth elements water both surface and groundwater. A global approach to these and related questions is called for an approach that with appropriate international collaboration could be achieved within the triennium of the International Year. Some global mineral resource assessments involving inter governmental collaboration have already been initiated. The International Year of Planet Earth will help focus attention on how the geosciences can generate prosperity locally and globally as well as sustainability issues in both developed and developing countries