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.

How the UK can learn from countries climbing out of gas dependence

In light of UK energy policy failings, Andrew Simms and Freddie Daley, Rapid Transition Alliance, look at where, even before the rapid shift in EU energy policy triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, huge leaps were being made in other countries to transition away from dependence on polluting gas.

18 March 2022

Does climate change cause war? Or does war cause climate change?

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, examines the evidence of whether climate change causes war or vice versa - and looks at some of the implications.

17 March 2022

Solving the UK’s energy crisis: Heat pumps and insulation for peace?

Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UK's home energy bills were shooting up, catapulting millions more into fuel poverty. But there are solutions which tackle this poverty, reduce carbon emissions, and in the longer-term insulate us from some conflicts, argues Dr Philip Webber, SGR.

15 March 2022

The threat from nuclear winter

As the threat of a nuclear war grows, Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, outlines the catastrophic climatic consequences should nuclear weapons ever be used - based on the latest academic research.

10 March 2022

An Allied correspondent stands in rubble, looking at the ruins of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.

Has our society forgotten the extreme horror of nuclear weapons?

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the risk of nuclear war has markedly increased. But, as Dr Philip Webber, SGR, points out, the threat comes from all nuclear weapons, not just those in Russian hands.

3 March 2022

COP26, peace and the carbon bootprint of the military

In light of the agreements at COP26, Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, looks at the controversial role of the military in climate issues, including the latest data on military carbon emissions, and how demilitarisation programmes offer more potential for reductions than low carbon weapons systems.

29 January 2022