Issues: Security and disarmament

Security and disarmament

SGR produces a range of resources on the issue of 'security and disarmament'. This covers military technologies, arms control and disarmament (esp. nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, ‘Missile Defense’, conventional weapons) - as well as alternative concepts of security, peace building and conflict prevention.

Scientists and engineers have a central role in the development of weapons and therefore share a special responsibilty to society. SGR's project work has investigated the extensive influence that the military has over science and technology.

Primary school children colouring in pictures of militarised technology

The military in UK schools: education or propaganda?

Laura Shewan, SGR, looks at the major expansion of military involvement currently underway in British schools – and questions the motivation of both the government and the arms industry.

11 March 2026

Fighter jet with fire

Growing military spending, growing carbon emissions

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, summarises the latest estimates of how military carbon emissions are rising across the world, as spending surges.

23 February 2026

Photo of chemist handling liquids while wearing full PPE

The legacy of chemical weapons, a century on from the ban

Bryony Maskell reflects on developments in the hundred years since chemical weapons fell under the first effective international prohibition treaty.

10 February 2026

Photo of Tasiilaq Bay in East Greenland

Greenland: reflections from an Arctic researcher

Michaela Louise Coote, of the universities of Lapland and Galway, discusses the serious difficulties in carrying out scientific research in the Arctic against a background of major geopolitical upheaval.  

27 January 2026

fighter and flames

The threat to the climate from UK nuclear weapons & military activity

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, highlights the possibility of nuclear winter due to UK nuclear weapons, and new data on the UK's military carbon footprint. 

22 November 2025 (updated)

 

Female scientist

Disciplining dissent: UK universities, the arms industry, and protest

Laura Shewan, SGR, describes the increasingly close relationship between the military-industrial complex and the academic sector in Britain. She also highlights the increasing antagonism of university authorities to protest against that relationship. 

21 November 2025 

SGR report cover

Most militaries report less than 10 percent of their carbon footprint

A new report by Scientists for Global Responsibility details the full extent of underreporting in official data on military greenhouse gas emissions. 

18 November 2025 

 

Fighter Jet Plane in hangar

US nuclear weapons return to the UK ready for the RAF

The UK government has announced a new nuclear role for the Royal Air Force using US bombs and aircraft. Dr Philip Webber, SGR, explores the disturbing implications of this surprise announcement.

7 October 2025

Protesters holding a banner that says Stop The Arms Fair

The DSEI arms fair: notes from the front line

Laura Shewan, SGR, reports from the recent protests in London outside the world’s largest ‘exhibition’ of military technology.

6 October 2025


 

WILPF webinar flyer

Military greenhouse gas emissions: large, hidden, unaccountable

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, describes how military activities are hidden within greenhouse gas emissions accounting. However, the available data still points to them being a major contributer to the climate crisis. 

19 September 2025