Engineers For Social Responsibility

Who we are

Engineers for Social Responsibility Inc.

We are an independent group of engineers who consider that being knowledgeable in the field of technology means that they also have a special obligation to the public at large.

About Us
Events
View All
Watch Video: Now that we’ve reached 1.5ºC, what next? Hear from David Spratt, the lead Research Director for Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration in Australia. This webinar is cosponsored by Our Climate Declaration, the Wise Response Society, Engineers for Social Responsibility, Degrowth Aotearoa New Zealand, Seniors Climate Action Network, and the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum. Find Out More
Video coming soon: Navigating Low-Carbon Building Design – Journeys of France and New Zealand On Wednesday 20th August we heard Anais Guennoc and Julio Ortiz discuss the Environmental Regulation RE2020 which has been introduced in France, making it one of the first countries to adopt legislation with regulatory thresholds on whole-of-life embodied carbon for buildings. What lessons can be learned for the building and construction industry in New Zealand? Find Out More
Watch video: Tipping Points and Planetary Solvency In this webinar, Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter summarises recent evidence regarding climate tipping points. Associated is the concept of Planetary Solvency, which defines catastrophic impacts as economic contraction with a GDP loss of over 25%, mass human mortality events resulting in over 2 billion deaths, warming of 2 degrees or greater,… Find Out More

Submissions

From time to time ESR makes submissions to Local Bodies or to Government, on issues of concern. These submissions are listed here and can be accessed for perusal.

View All
Effect of AM Network closure on disaster communications Letter to Hon. Mark Mitchell, Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, on effect of AM network closure on disaster communications Read more
Submission in response to the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill 2024 This submission relates to the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill, on which public submissions opened on 26 September 2024. ESR very strongly recommend that the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration not be removed. Instead, we need to be taking very rapid action to reduce our emissions by moving away from the use of fossil… Read more
Heavy Vehicle Traffic ESR Submission to Parliament on Traffic Congestion Charging ESR made a submission to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee of Parliament on the Land Transport Management (Time of Use Charging) Amendment Bill 2025 to sensitively support the use of congestion charging in a way that doesn't penalise the poor Read more

Position Papers

From time to time ESR prepares Position Papers which state ESR’s viewpoints, with the intention of providing useful guidance on particular topics. Information in this section of the ESR website is presented in good faith, having been checked and reviewed for accuracy and fairness.

View All

Newsletters

We publish a Newsletter from time to time, with news of ESR activities, articles and discussion on topics of interest.

View All
August 2025 CONTENTS - Eight reasons to be hopeful amid global challenges - IRENA Report excerpts - The renewable energy revolution - Grid forming batteries and syncons to bolster NSW grid - ‘Plastic crisis’ hitting health from infancy to old age - Economic assumptions no longer relevant. Read more
June 2025 CONTENTS - Don't blame renewables - Climate projects can bring big economic benefits - Tide is turning in Europe and beyond in favour of nuclear power - AI can help us protect the planet - Electric scooters and a salt battery push in China - WA gets first-ever home battery rebate and loan scheme -… Read more
April 2025 CONTENTS: From sewage and scum to swimming in ‘blue gold’: how Switzerland transformed its rivers - UK scientist wins prize for invention that could help avert ‘phosphogeddon’ - Nearly 100% of lithium recycled in latest research - UQ researchers set new solar cell world record - Plants are losing their appetite - WMO report documents… Read more

Climate Fact Sheets

Engineers for Social Responsibility and the Sustainable Energy Forum are concerned about the consequences of human-induced climate change and global warming and the need for widespread understanding of the facts and underlying science. Our combined organisations have prepared a series of discussion sheets and further papers will be published soon. Each paper is peer reviewed by top professionals with specialist knowledge about the topic being described.

View All
Renewable Energy Renewable energy is energy derived directly or indirectly from sunlight, wind, rain, tidal flows and ranges, waves, and thermal energy stored in the oceans, which are naturally replenished over fairly brief periods of time. Geothermal energy is also regarded as renewable because of the extremely large amounts of heat available from the earth’s core. Major… Read more
New Zealand Energy Security And Climate Change This paper sets out the case for taking early and effective action to improve New Zealand’s energy security, and doing so in a manner which minimises New Zealand’s future greenhouse gas emissions Read more
Climate Change – Living in a Warmer World Planet Earth has experienced large shifts in climate over time. In the depths of the last Ice Age, around 20,000 years ago, average temperatures were about 5°C lower than they are today. It looks now as though global warming is likely to heat up the world between 2 and 6°C by the year 2100. Read more