News
A selection of the latest content on the SGR site.
Events
Education activities designed to inspire young people to use science and technology to help support peace, social justice and environmental sustainability.
2020 week of activities: 7th to 15th March
2020 competition deadline:
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, summarised the latest data on the large but neglected carbon emissions of military activities. He argued that to reduce these emissions we need to pursue alternatives to militarism.
Resources
Prof Anna Stavrianakis, University of Sussex, explains how UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia have helped fuel the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and examines efforts to stop these exports.
6 February 2020
As NATO marks its 70th anniversary, Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, highlights the serious risks from the race for new weapons technologies.
3 December 2019
Prof Lorraine Whitmarsh, Cardiff University, argues that to encourage the radical behaviour change needed to tackle the climate crisis, we need a range of well-timed interventions. She also notes that climate scientists need to 'walk the talk' too.
29 November 2019
Prof Kevin Anderson, Manchester University, argues that to meet the Paris climate targets we need to put equity at the heart of plans to rapidly reduce carbon emissions.
26 November 2019
Prof Bill McGuire, University College London, argues that mainstream climate science reports downplay the scale of the threats, especially from sea-level rise, extreme heat, shutdown of the Gulf Stream, and increased seismic activity.
19 November 2019
A new poll of scientists reveals a gap between awareness of international climate goals and lifestyles, writes Andrew Simms, SGR, but there are signs of radical shifts.
16 November 2019
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, looks at how the fossil fuel and arms industries finance professional engineering and science organisations - and the many issues this raises - in this summary of the new report, Irresponsible Science?
6 October 2019
It can seem odd that a refusal to act is a good way to motivate action, writes Andrew Simms, SGR. But striking has been a tool of change for most of recorded history and for good reasons.
17 September 2019
Barnaby Pace explores how international examples of defence diversification programmes show what success could look like in the UK – answering employment concerns and if Britain's nuclear weapons should be cancelled or curtailed.
10 September 2019
Dr Philip Webber, Scientists for Global Responsibility, considers the recent demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and recalls the dangerous decade before it was originally agreed.
29 August 2019
As the world marks the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, argues that human space-flight is highly polluting, very expensive and has contributed to international arms races.
20 July 2019
Dr Jan Maskell, SGR, examines the potential of behaviour change to help to reduce plastic waste.
2 July 2019
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, summarises the latest data on the large but neglected carbon emissions of military activities, and argues that they need to be rapidly reduced.
29 June 2019
Dr Peter Burt of Drone Wars UK says that, in spite of contrary assurances, the UK is developing the components of autonomous weaponry.
12 June 2019
Dr Philip Webber, SGR, summarises the extremely serious dangers of the continued deployment of nuclear weapons around the world, in this article first published on the Metro website.
7 June 2019
The nuclear armed nations have inadvertently created a global Doomsday machine, built with 15,000 nuclear weapons. Most (93%) have been built by Russia and in the US, 3,100 of them are ready to fire within hours.
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/18/we-will-all-end-up-killing-each-other-an…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
In advance of a European Parliament vote on the new European Defence Fund - which would allow 13 billion euros to be spent on military research and technology - 1000 researchers have signed a statement opposing the fund.
17 April 2019
Just when it looked like UK coal might be phased out, a company in Cumbria is trying to give it a long-term future – undermining urgent efforts to tackle climate disruption. Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, argues for a halt to the proposed project.
17 March 2019
Publications
This report reveals how fossil fuel and arms corporations are financing professional engineering and science organisations and explores the range of problematic issues that result.
October 2019
Responsible Science is SGR's new journal in which we explore some of the biggest ethical challenges facing science and technology today.
It comes with membership of SGR and keeps you up-to-date with what we’re doing.
This report summarises a range of concerns about the rapid advances in AI and robotics - in areas such as lethal autonomous weapons, accidental nuclear war, fake news, online privacy, driverless cars and more...
2018