Responsible Science

We currently focus on four main issues: disarmament and security, climate change and energy, questions of who controls science and technology and issues surrounding new and emerging technologies. You will also see that we work on some other issues too. You can explore these with the menu on the left of this page and with the search function. Material in this section includes all SGR's main outputs since 2005, with a selection of the more important material from before then.

Climate change: an introduction to SGR's work

An introduction to SGR's concerns and activities on climate change.

Latest update: 28 August 2020

Scientists stand together with Science Oath for Climate

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

The climatic impacts of spaceflight

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

The UK's share of the global carbon budget will be used up in just over 3 years

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

Hidden military implications of ‘building back’ with new nuclear in the UK

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

The growing military involvement in UK universities - and the alternatives

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

Nuclear weapons, the military & climate overheating

Dr Philip Webber, SGR, compares funding for nuclear weapons with funding for tackling climate change, using the UK as an example.

9 September 2021

Cumbrian coal mine: SGR objection

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

The potential for rapid transition of the aviation industry after COVID-19

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

Overconsumption, the climate emergency and the scientific community

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

Issues