The Palaeontographical Society would like to affirm its commitment to increasing diversity within its membership, council and authorship of publications. Diversity is strength, and we will not tolerate expressions of hatred.

We recognise that some of the founders of our Society were involved in the exploitative practices of colonialism such as slavery, or came from families that derived their wealth from plantations. Palaeontology, like all sciences, has a historical legacy of racism and exploitation, suppressing the contributions of Black, Asian, and ethnic minority groups, women, people with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) community. Although we have a history of scientific excellence, we are not proud of the oppression upon which it was founded. We cannot change the past, but we do acknowledge it, and we will make positive changes for the future.

We have a long way to go to address the continued lack of diversity in the Palaeontographical Society. To meet our commitment to tackling this, diversity and inclusion will remain at the top of our Council’s agenda. We will strive to make our Society accessible and inclusive. We will seek to amplify the voices of our Black, Asian, ethnic minority, female, disabled and LGBTQ+ members, and minority groups in the wider scientific field. We all have a role to play in addressing injustice, and we stand in solidarity with our friends, collaborators, colleagues and the community as a whole.