Responsible Science

Climate change and energy

SGR produces a range of outputs on the issue of 'Climate change and energy'. This covers climate change science, technological and policy responses to climate change, energy supply technologies (especially renewable energy and nuclear power), energy use and energy efficiency (including in transport and buildings), and related policy and lifestyle issues.

Lessons from lockdown: how a ‘discontinuity event’ opens possibilities

Andrew Simms, SGR, assesses the research so far on behavioural change during the COVID-19 pandemic, and considers the implications for tackling the climate and nature emergencies.

12 September 2023

Jetting off to the sun? The adverts are selling you a ticket to climate disaster

Airlines have missed 98% of their previous environmental targets yet they keep urging more people to fly. Andrew Simms, SGR, discusses the industry's contradictions and how these can can be tackled.

16 August 2023

How big are global military carbon emissions?

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, summarises the latest research on what is – and isn’t – known about the size of global military carbon emissions.

8 July 2023

Offsets get the red card

The idea that people can continue polluting if they just pay into carbon offsetting schemes always seemed too good to be true. SGR’s Andrew Simms and New Weather Institute’s Freddie Daley spell out six reasons why it is.

27 June 2023 (updated)

UK government carbon targets for military bases are very weak

In a new report, Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, argues that the government target for reducing overall carbon emissions at UK military bases is so weak it could be met without any action by the armed forces.

31 May 2023

Military carbon emissions: what does the data say?

Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, summarises the available data on international military carbon emissions. He argues that, as military spending increases rapidly in the wake of the Ukraine war, these emissions are likely to rise as well.

29 May 2023

The great hybrid hoax

Anna Jonsson and Gunnar Lind, New Weather Sweden, explain how the auto industry exaggerated the environmental benefits of hybrid cars – and how this was challenged.

12 May 2023

Science groups launch petition urging journal publisher to share plan for halting anti-climate practices

SGR and UCS call on scientists to support our campaign on Elsevier's fossil fuel industry links.

20 March 2023 (updated)

Getting real: what would serious climate action look like?

Prof Kevin Anderson, Manchester University, summarises the action necessary if governments and societies were really committed to keeping global temperature change close to 1.5°C - and how there would be wider benefits too.

19 March 2023

Small Modular Reactors: the last-chance saloon for the nuclear industry?

Prof Steve Thomas, Greenwich University, critically assesses the current enthusiasm for Small Modular Reactors in the UK and elsewhere. Will they help in the struggle against climate change, or will they sound the death knell for nuclear fission in the power sector?

14 March 2023

Issues: Climate change and energy