Abstract
The potential of geoengineering to reverse global warming rapidly and cheaply makes it alluring to groups across the political spectrum. But geoengineering also poses significant risks and raises the specter of technology gone awry. This article analyzes the basic governance issues raised by geoengineering, including the possible functions, forms, objects and agents of governance. It then explores these issues by focusing on four scenarios of particular concern: inadequate research funding, premature rejection, unilateral individual action, and unilateral state action.
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Notes
According to Olivier et al. (2011), Table A1.1, global emissions were 25.3 Gt in 2000 and 33 Gt in 2010.
An exception is the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (2010).
For a detailed analysis of the existing international rules relevant to geoengineering, see Royal Society (2011), Appendix 3.
The following material is adapted from Bodansky (2010), at 264–65.
The 1972 London Convention already requires parties to regulate ocean dumping by ships loaded in their territory (Art. VI(2)), and general principles of international law allow states to regulate activities by their nationals anywhere in the world.
In urging the establishment of a federal research program on geoengineering, the Bipartisan Policy Center Task Force on Climate Remediation recommended a number of guidelines, which emphasize the importance of outside oversight, transparency and international coordination. Bipartisan Policy Center Task Force (2011), at 13–14.
The Bipartisan Policy Center Task Force on Climate Remediation (2011) estimates that perhaps a dozen states have the technological and economic capacity to deploy stratospheric aerosol injection techniques.
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Parts 1 and 3 are drawn from an earlier discussion paper, “Governing Climate Engineering: Scenarios for Analysis” (Harvard Project on Climate Agreements 2011).
This article is part of a special issue on “Geoengineering Research and its Limitations” edited by Robert Wood, Stephen Gardiner, and Lauren Hartzell-Nichols.
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Bodansky, D. The who, what, and wherefore of geoengineering governance. Climatic Change 121, 539–551 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0759-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0759-7