Early Warning

Climate change is a global reality that is growing more urgent by the minute, particularly for developing countries which research has shown are the most affected and expected to continue being the most affected by climate change. Globally, the last eight years have been the warmest on record with parts of the world experiencing unprecedented summer temperatures and prolonged heatwaves. Nearing the end of 2022, a consortium of international organizations issued a statement about the severity of the longest drought in the history of Horn of Africa which is creating a rapidly deteriorating food security crisis in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. The world is also witnessing a higher frequency of natural disasters such as the extreme rainfall and flooding that had a devastating impact on countries such as Pakistan where 33 million people were displaced. Pakistan, which is responsible for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, now has to spend an estimated $16 billion on reconstruction, half of which have been pledged by foreign donors.   The reality that many of the countries with the lowest carbon emissions are now facing the highest level of vulnerability makes the climate issue global not only in it terms of impact but also in terms of responsibility and action. Accordingly, plans to alleviate and reverse the effects of climate change are already underway and being led by developed nations who have the capacity to adapt and provide assistance to developing nations through climate finance. However, as climate change and its effects accelerate and targets are repeatedly missed, it has become necessary to reevaluate the effectiveness of the current course of climate action to identify the most significant hindering factors.

On November 30th, the San Diego police department received approval from supervisors to deploy robots with lethal capabilities in emergency situations, making it the second California city to publicly discuss the use of remote lethal force after Oakland in October 2022. The decision generated immediate backlash which pushed supervisors to put the program on hold following a vote on December 6th.   San Diego and Oakland may have halted the use of “killer robots” for now, but they have been used previously in the United States after Dallas police used a robot to kill a mass shooter in 2016. The mass shooter had already killed five police officers and injured dozens more. The robot was equipped with an explosive, then moved to a wall behind the shooter, then the bombs exploded killing the mass shooter and slightly damaging the robots arm, marking the first usage of a “killer robot” by U.S. law enforcement.   Robots in domestic law enforcement are not unusual in U.S. police departments, and many have operated robots for close to a decade but they have been used to inspect suspicious packages or deliver items during hostage negotiations without risking police officers and until 2016 not for lethal purposes.