Abstract The ‘Unconventional oil and gas resources and the geological storage of carbon dioxide’ section of the Proceedings is designed to provide new insights from recent research and exploitation within these major growth areas in applied geology. Research and innovation on unconventional oil and gas have been driven by market needs – specifically concerns over oil and gas supply – as well as technological development. A cross-section of this work is highlighted in the current set of papers, covering ultra-heavy oil, shale oil, shale gas, basin-centred gas, tight gas and clathrates. Unsurprisingly, much of this research has been pioneered in North America. This work is complemented herein by some initial studies from Europe. Similarly, the geological storage of CO 2 is not simply a story of technological advance but also a response to an urgent societal imperative. Carbon dioxide sequestration is recognized as an important method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the near future, and is expected to have growing relevance to the oil and gas industry and the energy sector. Recent findings from current commercial carbon capture and storage projects in the North Sea and North Africa are presented and are complemented by an overview of major research programmes established in North America.