Ethical careers for geologists?

1
Ethical careers for geologists?

• Dr. Tim Foxon
• Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR),
• and Imperial College, London
• Presentation to Sedgwick Club, 02/02/04

2
Outline

• What does SGR do?
• What are the major concerns relating to
  sustainability and climate change?
• Career choices - what to think about and what are
  the alternatives?
• Personal empowerment
• Getting the right advice

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Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR), U.K.

• Network of concerned scientists
• Promote socially responsible and ethical use of
  science and technology
• - e.g. Climate Train to Kyoto
• Professional support
• - e.g. Ethics guide and mentoring
• Web site
• www.sgr.org.uk

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Ethical Careers Guide and Briefings

• Produced by SGR
• Covers a range of issues to help make informed
  ethical choices about careers in science and
  technology
• Contributors include Joseph Rotblat and Tim
  Berners-Lee
• More detailed briefings, including climate change
  and clean technologies

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Science and technology

• Science and technology are powerful forces for
  understanding and transforming our world
• Power brings responsibility
• the more that we are able to do, the more that we
  should be concerned with the consequences of our
  actions

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Sustainable Development

• Principles agreed at Rio Earth Summit in 1992
• Re-affirmed at Johannesburg in 2002
• A better quality of life for everyone, now and
  for generations to come
• meeting social needs
• protecting the environment
• enabling economic development

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Key issues

• Climate Change
• IPCC predicts between 1.5 C and 4.5 C rise in
  mean global temperature by 2100
• sea level rise, increased extreme events
• Loss of biodiversity and habitats
• Risks created by new technologies
• Lack of democratic control
• Need for development in poorer countries

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Ecological footprint of nations
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Sustainability target

• Need to increase in efficiency by which we create
  value per unit of resource used by a Factor of 10
• UK Energy White Paper sets a goal of reducing UK
  CO2 emissions by 60 by 2050

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Climate Change solutions

• Increase efficiency of providing energy services
  at each stage in the chain
• production, distribution, conversion, end-use
• Decarbonisation of primary fuel sources
• Switch to lower carbon fossil fuels, e.g. gas
  instead of coal or oil
• Capture and sequester carbon emissions
• Development of renewable energy sources, e.g.
  wind, solar, biomass, geothermal

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Reducing CO2 emissions by 2050
Source The Carbon Trust
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Technological change is not enough

• Technological change alone will not be sufficient
  to achieve sustainability
• Will also need political and institutional change
• Take-back of efficiency gains in increased
  consumption
• Need move towards sufficiency in consumption as
  well as efficiency

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What should we do?

• No shortage of socially useful things to do
• However, current socio-economic systems give
  higher rewards to those who act to maintain the
  current system
• Lock-in of technologies and institutions

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Four basic steps

• 1. Educate yourself about wider issues
• 2. Decide where we stand - and what you might do
  if your views were compromised
• 3. Try to choose a career path consistent with
  your views
• 4. Get support - from colleagues, mentors,
  networks, other organisations

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Be aware of incremental drift

• One scientist we interviewed noted
• You will rarely be faced with a big ethical
  dilemma in work. What is more likely is a series
  of very small steps which together add up to
  something much larger - which is why one
  constantly has to think about what one is doing

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Employment opportunities

• Does the employer have an environment or
  sustainability policy?
• What are the life cycle impacts of the product or
  service provided?
• What are the targets and opportunities for
  reducing environmental impacts?

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Options for geologists

• Work for change within a large company
• Work for a company which you feel is making a
  positive contribution
• Work for change from within government,
  consultancies, NGOs, media, etc.
• Exert influence by researching and teaching

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Working for a large company

• Working to improve environmental efficiency
• Working for, e.g. the renewables division of a
  large company
• Using your position to try to influence the
  companys position
• Possible, but could be very frustrating, and long
  term benefits not clear

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Working for a responsible company

• Need to judge attitude and commitment of the
  company
• Opportunity to work with like-minded people and
  feel like youre making a difference
• May also involve compromises in certain areas

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Working for government, consultancies media,
NGOs, etc

• Opportunities to exert influence
• Difficulties
• large organisations may have their own biases and
  agendas
• small organisations may be more radical, but have
  less power

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Researching and teaching

• More opportunities to understand what is going on
  and set your own agenda
• Influence the next generation
• Some influence on decision-makers but no power!

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Big or small?

• Think about choosing to work for a smaller, more
  ethically oriented company - or even about
  starting your own!
• Transferable skills
• basic knowledge and understanding of science and
  engineering are transferable to a wide range of
  potential jobs

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Get support

• Talk to your colleagues
• Talk to others with experience of different jobs
  or roles
• Use the careers service
• Network with like-minded people - through
  professional organisations, trade unions,
  organisations like SGR

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Summary

• Social and environmental concerns are real and
  likely to become increasingly influential
• Many opportunities for a more ethical careers,
  but may involve hard choices
• You can make a difference - good luck!