News
Here's a selection of the latest content on the Scientists for Global Responsibility website.
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Resources
SGR today launches its new online resource – ‘Globally Responsible Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics’ (GRC-STEM) – to help the growing number of job-seekers looking for ethical employment.
22 November 2021
Andrew Simms, Phil Webber, Stuart Parkinson, and Jan Maskell give their initial thoughts on the outputs of the COP26 climate negotiations - and examine some options for future action.
17 November 2021
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, summarises the huge carbon emissions of the military, the threat to the climate from nuclear weapons, and what can be done to challenge it.
8 November 2021
How should climate scientists get involved in campaigning activities? Dr Liz Kalaugher, SGR, Dr Alison Green, Scientists Warning, and Dr Aaron Thierry, Scientists for Extinction Rebellion, discuss the issues and options.
8 November 2021
The UK government refuses to support a treaty to regulate lethal autonomous weapons systems, preferring instead to expand military R&D, including at universities. But, argues Leyla Manthorpe Rizatepe, these same universities could become a further focus of protest.
26 October 2021
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, presents the latest data on which personal actions are most likely to reduce your carbon emissions to a level compatible with the international 1.5C temperature target.
19 October 2021
In light of The Trick, a new BBC drama about the “ClimateGate” hack of one scientist’s emails in 2009, Dr Liz Kalaugher, SGR, looks at how climate scientists today are banding together to speak out about their evidence and how urgently we need to act.
18 October 2021
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, examines the carbon footprint of spaceflight - especially space tourism, military missions, and the planned return of humans to the Moon. He argues that the damage is large enough to justify a moratorium on all non-essential spaceflight.
8 October 2021
As we head towards the COP26 negotiations, Prof Bill McGuire, University College London, warns about the dangers of relying on geoengineering to dig us out of the climate crisis.
1 October 2021
As Boris Johnson, at the UN, calls on other countries to take more action on the climate, Dr Ian Campbell examines what the science is really saying about the scale of carbon emissions reduction needed by the UK to comply with the Paris Agreement.
24 September 2021
Dr Phil Johnstone and Prof Andy Stirling, University of Sussex, examine the entanglements between Britain's civilian and military nuclear programmes and ask, would the UK be building new nuclear power stations if it weren't for pressure from the military lobby?
20 September 2021
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, highlights the rapidly increasing military involvement at UK universities, especially as part of the government's 'Global Britain' agenda.
11 September 2021
Dr Philip Webber, SGR, compares funding for nuclear weapons with funding for tackling climate change, using the UK as an example.
9 September 2021
SGR's objections to the proposals for a huge new deep coal mine in West Cumbria, UK. This includes evidence that, for each job created, the resulting additional climate change impacts will lead to more than 100 extra deaths worldwide.
8 September 2021
As the world recovers from the pandemic, Dr Lucy Gilliam, Transport and Environment, looks at the steps that need to be taken to prevent the aviation sector returning to pre-COVID pollution levels.
6 September 2021
Prof Nick Robins, London School of Economics, looks at the dynamics of a just transition away from fossil fuels.
31 August 2021
As the stark findings of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change make global headlines, Prof Julia Steinberger, University of Lausanne, explores how to live well within environmental limits, and asks why questioning overconsumption is so problematic.
11 August 2021
On 22nd January 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) became part of international law. As the world marks the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Dr Philip Webber, SGR, examines the implications of this new UN treaty.
6 August 2021
With the Royal Society holding a conference on green finance, Andrew Simms, SGR, looks at the gap between the institution's words and actions.
22 July 2021
As billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson launch the first flights of their space tourism corporations, Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, takes a look at the climate impacts.
20 July 2021
Prof Alice Larkin, University of Manchester, argues that, if our society were really serious about tackling climate change, we would put much greater priority on social and economic change - as shown by the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
29 June 2021
As NATO publishes its new climate plan, Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, questions whether the current military interest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is serious.
15 June 2021
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, looks at the latest data on military carbon emissions, both in the UK and internationally - revealing the actual extent of the 'carbon bootprint'. He also outlines the threat to the climate from nuclear weapons.
3 June 2021
Britain’s security and defence priorities in the wake of Brexit emphasise high tech military equipment such as robotic and nuclear weapons, while overseas aid is slashed and action on climate change remains inadequate. Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, assesses the situation.
11 May 2021
The Cambridge Sustainability Commission on Scaling Behaviour Change says we should target the UK’s polluter elite for sustainable behaviour shift. Andrew Simms, SGR, reports.
13 April 2021
Andrew Simms, SGR, describes the UK's great aid betrayal, and the moral failure of pandemic vaccines not reaching the world's poorest.
8 March 2021
In November 2020, the UK government announced a huge increase in military spending, a modest increase in climate change spending, and an enormous cut to the overseas aid budget. Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, looks at the implications for Britain's effort to tackle the climate crisis.
22 February 2021
Dr Jan Maskell, SGR, summarises how commuters changed their behaviour during the Covid-19 lockdown in spring 2020, and assesses the implications for tackling the climate emergency.
8 January 2021
Events
Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, will speak at this in-person workshop at the People's Summit for Climate Justice, Glasgow, UK - held during the COP26 climate negotiations.
A free online event showcasing SGR's recent research, campaigning and educational activities on responsible science for climate action, plus keynote presentation from Dr. Lewis Akenji, Director of the Hot or Cool Institute.
Publications
Responsible Science is SGR's journal in which we explore some of the biggest ethical issues in science and technology today. Features cover: just and sustainable recovery from COVID-19 crisis; climate change; nuclear weapons; geoengineering; killer robots; and much more!
The journal comes with membership of SGR and keeps you up-to-date with our activities.
August 2021
Militaries are high consumers of fossil fuels – and yet they are frequently exempt from publicly reporting their carbon emissions. This report examines the size of the military carbon footprint in the EU.
Stuart Parkinson and Linsey Cottrell
February 2021
This report assesses the key environmental impacts of the UK military, arms industry and related sectors - including an estimate of their carbon footprint. Jointly published with Declassified UK.
Stuart Parkinson
May 2020
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.
Stuart Parkinson and Philip Wood
October 2019
Projects
To read the full text of 'A science oath for the climate', see the list of signatories, and/or to add your own name, please read on....
Extra background on the Science oath for the climate, including further reading and FAQs.