The American Physical Society

The report by Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) examines the American Physical Society's (APS) financial practices, noting a lack of transparency regarding $181.9 million in securities and the absence of a formal ethical investment or environmental policy. While the APS has no known fossil fuel sponsors and has committed to tackling the climate crisis, SGR expresses concern over donations from the arms trade and the inability to verify if APS investments contradict its public climate statements.

• The American Physical Society (APS) held $181.9 million in publicly traded securities as of December 2019, but it does not publicly disclose the specific holdings of these investments.
• The APS lacks a documented ethical investment policy or a formal environmental policy.
• While the APS has no apparent corporate patrons from the fossil fuel industry, its 2019 annual report lists three donors from the arms trade contributing between $10,000 and $99,999: Boeing, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research-NE.
• The APS has taken steps to address its own carbon footprint by calculating its Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions without relying on carbon credits.
• The APS has publicly committed to climate action, including a 2015 call to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and a statement signed prior to COP26 to work with governments to tackle the climate crisis.
• SGR argues that the APS's lack of financial transparency makes it impossible to determine if its investments are compatible with the Paris Agreement or its own public statements on the urgency of climate change.

APA

Scientists for Global Responsibility (n.d.). The American Physical Society. https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-02/American_Physical_Society_Report.pdf

Chicago

Scientists for Global Responsibility. The American Physical Society. n.d. https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-02/American_Physical_Society_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Scientists for Global Responsibility |title=The American Physical Society |url=https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-02/American_Physical_Society_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{scientistsforglobalresponsibilityndamerican, author = {{Scientists for Global Responsibility}}, title = {{The American Physical Society}}, institution = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-02/American_Physical_Society_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }