My Personal Focus On Global Catastrophic Risks

There are plenty of reasons I could rationalize for why a general focus on global catastrophic risks (GCRs) is more important than a special focus on any one GCR or existential risk (x-risk). Ultimately, though, I think I just have an advantage of thinking about GCRs in a generic fashion.

1. I'm not especially talented at maths or sciences. Thus, I'll never be a researcher for the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Reflecting upon the neglected consideration of personal fit on altruistic career selection, as outlined in Will MacAskill's 2015 book Doing Good Better, and reading from the 80,000 Hours (80k) blog, I'm convinced I can do the most good, vis-a-vis GCRs, with a more generic focus at this time.
    
2. I'm familiar with different groups focusing on various individual GCRs or x-risks. Climate change is one so into the public domain it doesn't even bother mentioning who focuses on it. Environmentalism is a social movement in dozens upon dozens of countries, with millions of adherents around the world, and influences every sort of human institution. With other global catastrophic risks, there seem to be a handful of government and/or non-profit organizations which focus on them. However, there doesn't seem to me enough of a broad and informal network focused on the full suite of GCRs and x-risks. For example, there is an 'environmental movement', and even an 'A.I. safety' movement/community, but nobody mentions a 'GCR community'. I'd like to see this change. I think I can play a role in making this change.
    
3. Building on (2), there is a lack of coordination and consolidated communication/strategy across all GCRs. Due to how neglected and important a focus on GCRs is among folks in general, there needs to be more awareness between the communities around individual risks of each other. Part of this opinion is motivated by my believe different risks will interact with each other, and while organizations like the Global Catastrophic Risks Institute (GCRI) and its allies are aware of this, there isn't enough awareness of intersectional risks among organizations working 'on the ground' to mitigate risks.

As far as I can tell, there are seven organizations which focus on the mitigation of more than one GCR:

• Global Catastrophic Risks Institute (GCRI)
• Future of Humanity Institute (FHI)
• Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER)
• Future of Life Institute (FLI)
• Open Philanthropy Project (Open Phil)
• Global Priorities Project (GPP)
• Skoll Global Threats Fund

If you're interested in learning more about the general coverage of GCRs, start by reading up on the work of any of these organizations.