Issues

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.

Letter to UK energy minister on marine power

SGR letter to Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, 6 May 2011
 

SGR supports 'Demand a better energy bill'

SGR is one of 60 organisations now supporting the 'Demand a better bill' campaign, which proposes major improvements to the UK government's proposed energy saving legislation, 6 May 2011
 

SGR supports joint complaint to BBC about Chernobyl documentary

SGR has co-signed a letter of complaint to the BBC about bias in a Radio 4 programme, Fallout: the legacy of Chernobyl, 5 May 2011
 

Arms conversion in the UK

Presentation by Stuart Parkinson, SGR, at the 'Welfare or Warfare' public meeting, London, 12 April 2011

Part of a series of events marking the Global Day of Action on Military Spending
 

Arms conversion for a secure and sustainable society

Taking the conflict in Libya as a starting point, Stuart Parkinson, SGR, argues that a major shift in security and industrial strategies in the UK and other industrialised countries would bring about a more secure and sustainable world.

Presentation at Liverpool Hope University on 31 March 2011
 

After the Japanese Tsunami: Industrial society, resilience, and the nuclear question

Stuart Parkinson, SGR, takes an initial look at the lessons from the Japanese tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear emergency. He argues that if societies are to be more ‘resilient’ to environmental risks, then major socio-economic and technological changes are critical.

Article for SGR website, 17 March 2011
 

If you ask me: Defence technology

Cuts dictated by the UK defence review give the opportunity to take a fresh look at how we deploy military technology.

Opinion article by Stuart Parkinson, SGR, in Engineering and Technology magazine, 14 March 2011
 

Beyond Trident: AWE prepares for the future

Peter Burt, Nuclear Information Service, examines the major redevelopment of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, and points out how new facilities could allow the UK to sidestep international controls on nuclear weapons development.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 39, winter 2011 (published online 4 March 2011)
 

Census 2011 – who will have access to the data?

With a subsidiary of major arms company, Lockheed Martin, being a lead contractor for the UK’s 2011 census, Geoff Meaden asks if the data collected will really be secure.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 39, winter 2011 (published online 4 March 2011)
 

Climate change – are we still sure?

Climate scientists have had a poor press in recent months. Stuart Parkinson, SGR, investigates whether this is a sign that the scientific evidence of climate change is less robust, or just media misrepresentation.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 39, winter 2011 (published online 4 March 2011)