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Nothing is more important than reducing serious existential risks to humanity. Major contemporary risks
include: nuclear war, global pandemic, and environmental catastrophe. Inevitably, international cooperation is required to manage those risks. That’s because an extinction-level threat to humanity could emerge from any individual country and expand to threaten the globe.
Cooperation among nations is co ordinated through international treaties. How can we hold governments accountable for participating in treaties that are critical to humanity’s survival? The first step is to build public understanding of the status quo; more citizens need to know whether their government has ratified the most important treaties.
To improve the public’s understanding, I have built a website, SurvivalScores.org. I selected nine treaties that are likely key to the survival of humanity. The website shows, according to UN databases, which countries have joined these treaties and which have not. If a country has done so, it earns a green tick mark; if a country is not yet a member of a treaty, it is given a red X. Survival Score is automatically updated every day with the latest treaty in formation, and assigns each country a score reflecting its level of participation in these key treaties.
Now that this information is publicly accessible, the next steps need to be public discussion and pressure on governments. How can we focus our political discourse on achieving 100%
participation in treaties essential to the long-term existence of our species? Here is a sample of a small selection of countries and their treaty participation as of August 2024. To see the cur rent full table with the treaty participation of all 197 UN-member countries, visit: SurvivalScores.org.