Overview
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) is Germany’s central geoscientific authority, under the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWK).
It acts as the national geological service, advising government and industry on geoscience, resource policy and sustainable management.
Mission and Focus Areas
BGR’s core mission is to support a sustainable, secure supply of raw materials and energy, safeguard soil and groundwater, and manage geological risks.
Its work spans raw and energy materials, subsurface storage (e.g. CO₂, hydrogen, geothermal), soils, ground- and surface water, geological mapping, and risk assessments (earthquakes, subsidence).
BGR publishes energy and resource studies, mapping reports, technical analyses and databases (notably its Geoportal) to support evidence-based decision making.
Organisational Structure
As a federal upper authority, BGR employs around 800 staff and functions as part of Germany’s scientific-technical infrastructure.
Its headquarters are in Hannover, with service branches in Berlin and Cottbus, and it hosts Deutsche Rohstoffagentur (Germany’s mineral resources agency) in Berlin.
BGR forms part of Geozentrum Hannover, together with the state mining/energy authority (LBEG) and the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), sharing infrastructure, archives and research collaboration.
BGR is organised into four main divisions: Raw Materials, Groundwater & Soil, Subsurface Storage & Economic Space, and Geoscientific Information & International Cooperation.
It also fulfils statutory roles (e.g. seismic monitoring, data regulation, oversight of geophysical investigations).
Link to Sustainable Finance
BGR’s geoscientific data, mapping tools and supply-risk analyses inform sustainable finance decisions by helping investors understand exposure to critical raw materials, resource dependency and environmental risk. Its role in assessing material supply chains (including conflict minerals) aligns with due diligence obligations under EU regulation.
Key Offerings
BGR provides the Geoportal, a platform where layered geodata, maps and metadata are accessible to users for research, planning, monitoring and regulatory purposes.
It issues energy and raw materials studies and policy briefings useful for government, industry and academic stakeholders.
In international cooperation projects, it contributes to marine resource exploration, CO₂ sequestration, post-mining rehabilitation and geotechnical safety research.
