Irresponsible Science?

The report reveals a pattern of financial links between the fossil fuel and arms industries and UK professional engineering and science organisations, including investments, event sponsorship, and the funding of school education programmes. It highlights a significant lack of transparency and argues that these links compromise the ethical leadership of these professional bodies, particularly when promoting these industries to children without discussing associated ethical concerns.

• Three PESOs—the Royal Academy of Engineering, EngineeringUK, and the Energy Institute—were found to have 'high' or 'very high' levels of involvement with the fossil fuel industry in their school education programmes. Specifically, over 70% of external funding for the Royal Academy of Engineering's recent school education programmes came from fossil fuel corporations, and EngineeringUK received at least £1m from Shell for its 'Tomorrow’s Engineers' programme.
• The Royal Academy of Engineering and EngineeringUK demonstrated 'very high' levels of involvement with the arms industry in school education. Most of the Royal Academy of Engineering's downloadable teaching resources involved arms corporations, primarily BAE Systems, or promoted military technologies. BAE Systems has also served as the sole 'lead sponsor' of the 'Big Bang' science fair, organised by EngineeringUK, for many years.
• Four PESOs—the Energy Institute, EngineeringUK, the Institute of Physics, and the Royal Statistical Society—were concluded to hold 'very high' levels of investments in the fossil fuel industry. However, overall transparency was poor; for the 15 PESOs with investments, the researchers could only identify where approximately 5% of total assets were held.
• The Energy Institute, the Geological Society, and the Royal Academy of Engineering received 'very high' levels of event sponsorship from the fossil fuel industry. For example, the Energy Institute's International Petroleum Week is dominated by the oil industry and has included sponsors such as Rosneft. Nearly 90% of the Geological Society's event sponsors were from the fossil fuel sector.
• Five PESOs—the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Physics, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and EngineeringUK—received 'high' or 'very high' levels of event sponsorship from the arms industry, with sponsors including BAE Systems, the Atomic Weapons Establishment, and Lockheed Martin.
• Significant institutional links exist via corporate membership; 70% of the Geological Society's corporate members were from the fossil fuel sector. Additionally, the Institution of Engineering and Technology received major donations from arms corporations including BAE Systems, Thales, and Airbus.
• Only one of the 20 PESOs studied, the British Psychological Society, had an ethical investment policy that restricted investment in the fossil fuel or arms industries.
• Virtually no PESOs in the study considered the ethical issues of the arms industry or peace as subjects for policy or activity, even within their school education programmes.

APA

Parkinson, S., & Wood, P. (2019). Irresponsible Science? Scientists for Global Responsibility. https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-10/SGR_IrresponsibleScience.pdf

Chicago

Parkinson, Stuart, and Philip Wood. Irresponsible Science? Scientists for Global Responsibility, 2019. https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-10/SGR_IrresponsibleScience.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Parkinson |first1=Stuart |last2=Wood |first2=Philip |title=Irresponsible Science? |publisher=Scientists for Global Responsibility |date=October 2019 |url=https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-10/SGR_IrresponsibleScience.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{parkinson2019irresponsible, author = {Parkinson, Stuart and Wood, Philip}, title = {{Irresponsible Science?}}, institution = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, year = {2019}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-10/SGR_IrresponsibleScience.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }