Don’t blame scientists for all the world’s ills | Letter

Science and technology are tools that can be used for both good and bad ends, writes Rob Driver

Laurence Kenney (Letters, 1 March) points the finger at engineers and scientists" for enabling both the climate emergency and armed conflicts across the globe. This is an unhelpful framing of the issue.

Science and technology are tools that can be used for both good and bad ends. How we choose to use them is a matter for all of society, not just for scientists. Let's remember that it was climate science that revealed to us (nearly 40 years ago) that our desire for plentiful energy and transportation based on fossil fuels would lead to catastrophe. And that it is low-carbon technologies that now offer us a pathway out of our climate predicament.