ResponsibleSci blog

Science and technology develop with astonishing speed raising constant questions about their responsible practice. Our Responsible Science blog is where we tackle these issues as they arise. Please get in touch if there is something happening on our agenda that you think we should know about or would like to suggest an article.

Climate action poster

Did COP26 deliver? Thoughts from Scientists for Global Responsibility

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

Parched soil and red Sun

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

Flooding

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

coal

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

Cover of Irresponsible Science? report

Institutional gaps between words and action on climate science: Royal Society calls for low-carbon finance but still invests in fossil fuels

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

New Shepard space-craft

Space tourism: environmental vandalism for the super-rich

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

NATO climate plan

More fight, less fuel: the military approach to climate change

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

Three quarters of SUVs are sold to urban households

‘Polluter elite’ should be UK climate policy target

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

EU military carbon report cover

The carbon footprint of military sectors in the EU

Militaries use a lot of fossil fuels, yet are frequently exempt from publicly reporting their carbon emissions. SGR and CEOBS examine EU military carbon footprints in a new report by Stuart Parkinson and Linsey Cottrell.

23 February 2021

Trident nuclear missile

Scientists welcome entry into force of nuclear weapons ban treaty

Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) welcomes the entry into force of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and calls on the UK government to support it.

22 January 2021