Existential Risks to Humanity Should Concern International Policymakers and More Could Be Done in Considering Them at the International Governance Level

Abstract

In this perspective, we consider the possible role of the United Nations (UN) with respect to existential risks to human civilization and the survival of humanity. We illustrate how existential risks have been discussed at an international governance level, specifically in documents in the UN Digital Library. In this large corpus, discussions of nuclear war account for over two-thirds (69%, 67/97) of mentions of existential risks, while mention of other existential risks, or such risks as a category, appears scant. We take these observations to imply inadequate attention to these significant threats. These deficits, combined with the need for a global response to many risks, suggest that UN member nations should urgently advocate for appropriate action at the UN to address threats, such as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, geoengineering, and supervolcanic eruption, in analogous fashion to existing attempts to mitigate the threats from nuclear war or near-Earth objects.

The whack-a-mole governance challenge for AI-enabled synthetic biology: literature review and emerging frameworks

“…Various forms of risk will impact synbio growth, notably AI risk ( O’Brien and Nelson, 2020 ; Grinbaum and Adomaitis, 2023 ), the potential for a slew of catastrophic risks ( DiEuliis et al, 2019 ) such as new pathogens, or even the specter of existential risks ( Boyd and Wilson, 2020 ) threatening the flourishing or survival of humanity.…”

“…( Endy, 2005 ; Patel et al, 2009 ; Palmer et al, 2015 ; Bauer and Bogner, 2020 ; Boyd and Wilson, 2020 ; Frow, 2020 ; Hanczyc, 2020 ; Murashov et al, 2020 ; Garner, 2021 ; Pei et al, 2022 ; Sargent et al, 2022 ; Mateu-Sanz et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Despite the small scale, the intermediate term risks are significant, and include contaminating natural resources, aggravation of species with complex gene modifications, threats to species diversity, abuse of biological weapons, laboratory leaks, and man-made mutations, hurting workers, creating antibiotic resistant superbugs, or damaging human, animal, or plant germlines ( Hewett et al, 2016 ; O’Brien and Nelson, 2020 ; Nelson et al, 2021 ; Sun et al, 2022 ). Some even claim synthetic biology produces potential existential risks from lab accidents or engineered pandemics ( Ord, 2020 ), especially in combination with AI ( Boyd and Wilson, 2020 ).…”

Anticipatory Governance for Preventing and Mitigating Catastrophic and Existential Risks

“…Only governments or international agencies serve as a mechanism to solve social problems by coordinating various interests across sectors and across departments, and balancing multiple needs, including the needs of present and future generations. The problem of coordination is amplified by the lack of global legal regimes in force that grasp the gravity of extreme risks (Boyd and Wilson, 2020b), and the lack of any coordinated global approach to most extreme risks (Ord, Mercer and Dannreuther, 2021).…”

Optimizing Island Refuges against global Catastrophic and Existential Biological Threats: Priorities and Preparations

“…Various methods have been proposed to address vulnerabilities and hence shift the probability of existential risk. These suggestions include: improved international focus, governance, and cooperation such as through the United Nations (Boyd & Wilson, 2020), imitating existing frameworks such as the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction (Avin et al., 2018), achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Cernev & Fenner, 2020), or extreme surveillance for threats (Bostrom, 2019). Toby Ord lists 38 specific measures across eight existential threats, and an additional 12 avenues to explore that address risks in general terms (Ord, 2020).…”