BGR cooperates worldwide with its partners in the technical as well as the European and international cooperation in the geosector. This takes place on behalf of the federal departments and in agreement with national and international geoscientific institutions. BGR advises BMZ in the fields energy and mineral raw materials, groundwater, soil, usage of the deeper subsoil and risk analyses and carries out technical cooperation projects with developing countries, directly commissioned through BMZ.

BGR supports the European institutions, e.g. with the drafting of EU directives and EU programmes. This mostly happens under the umbrella of EuroGeoSurveys, the association of the European geological surveys.

BGR leads the IODP-Coordination Office and therefore supports the German contribution to this geoscientific communal project with scientists from 21 countries for the investigation of up to now inaccessible areas in the seabed.

BGR is the technical contact of the Federal Government for the supervision of the observance of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the national data centre CTBT as well as seismological and infrasound stations of the international monitoring system of the CTBT organisation in Vienna.