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.

Borodianka, Ukraine

The war in Ukraine: assessing the human and environmental costs

In February, 2022, Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to invade Ukraine. Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, assesses the data on the impacts of the war during the course of the year – both on the battlefield and beyond it – and considers what the future might hold.

20 February 2023

Fighter + flames

SGR Executive Director gives evidence to parliamentary inquiry

SGR's Executive Director, Dr Stuart Parkinson, gave oral evidence on military carbon emissions to the UK House of Commons Defence Committee.

24 January 2023

report cover

New estimate suggests global military activities responsible for more emissions than Russia

An innovative new methodology for estimating global and regional military greenhouse gas emissions suggests that the world’s militaries are responsible for 5.5% of global emissions - according to a new report by SGR and CEOBS.

10 November 2022

Planet Earth

How war in Ukraine is derailing climate action

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, assesses how the war in Ukraine is undermining efforts to tackle climate change and poverty - both in the UK and internationally.

29 October 2022

nuclear explosion

What would a nuclear war look like?

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, summarises the catastrophic impacts of a nuclear war. This includes the effects of a single weapon and the potential for massive climate disruption.

25 September 2022

Picture of Target 1 on flying

SGR launches 1.5°C living targets – sign up to pressure governments to act on climate

Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) has constructed a set of ten evidence-based 1.5°C living targets that together will bring an individual’s lifestyle in line with the Paris climate goal. 

20 September 2022

drone (iStockphoto)

Is the University of Edinburgh involved in research for autonomous weapons?

Partnerships between the military and UK academia are being rapidly expanded. Alba Andrés Sánchez examines whether some of them might be used to help develop lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS).

15 September 2022

Photo by Johannes Plenio

Nuclear power: the accumulating problems

With the present British government intent on a fleet of new nuclear power stations, Dr Paul Dorfman, Sussex University, looks at the major obstacles and argues for alternatives.

31 August 2022

War and despair

A short dictionary of war terminology

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, looks at how the language used to describe war – including that in Ukraine – can mislead and obscure the situation. He provides a short guide for cutting through the information fog.

26 August 2022

clouds of hope and fear

To scare or not to scare? Is a message of fear more effective than a message of hope?

Dr Jan Maskell, SGR, summarises the academic evidence on one of the key debates in climate communication.

22 July 2022