Lord Martin Rees: The World in 2050 (27 August, 2009)

Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitor Program

Lord Martin Rees, Master, Trinity College, University of Cambridge

This century is the first in the Earth's history when one species, ours, has the Earth's future in its hands. In 2050, the world's population may well have reached 9 billion. Unless we make wise choices about the direction of economic development and energy use, our collective impact on the planet's resources, environment and climate could cause irreversible damage. Advanced technology will open up huge new opportunities, but it will open up new risks. We will all be living in an ever more interconnected world, increasingly vulnerable to breakdowns. Individuals, empowered by powerful technology and choosing to misuse it, will pose ever-greater threats. And the advance of science will pose ever more ethical challenges: there will be a widening gap between what we are capable of doing and what it is prudent or ethical actually to do. The lecture, raising questions rather than offering answers, will address some of these issues.