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Global Catastrophic Risks Conference (17-20 July, 2008)
In July the Future of Humanity Institute will play host to a number of leading experts on a range of different global catastrophic risks. The conference in Oxford is intended to advance knowledge and increase academic interest in this neglected area and provide a forum to discuss the common problems and methodologies which affect the study of global catastrophic risks.
Global Catastrophic Risks forthcoming, OUP, June 2008), edited by Nick Bostrom and Milan Cirkovic, with a foreword by Sir Martin Rees.
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Researching Global Catastrophic Risks at the Future of Humanity Institute
What are the biggest threats to global civilization and human well-being? Will the human species survive the 21st century?
Humanity is developing unprecedented powers, which entail new kinds of risk. Sir Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, recently estimated that the chances of humanity surviving the twenty-first century are fifty-fifty.
Global Catastrophic Risks is one of four interlinked research programs being pursued by the Future of Humanity Institute, part of the Faculty of Philosophy and James Martin 21 st Century School at the University of Oxford.
This website exists to focus attention on our work in this area, which includes
- assessments of which global catastrophic risks are the most dangerous and the most likely to occur;
- study of the methodological issues related to making these assessments;
- evaluation of the moral questions related to man-made global catastrophic risks;
- study of ways to mitigate these risks and to increase humanity’s resilience to catastrophes.