ABSTRACT
If the detrimental impacts of human-induced climate change continue to mount, technologies for geoengineering our climate – i.e. deliberate modifying of the Earth's climate system at a large scale – are likely to receive ever greater attention from countries and societies worldwide. Geoengineering technologies could have profound ramifications for our societies, and yet agreeing on an international governance framework in which even serious research into these planetary-altering technologies can take place presents an immense international political challenge.
In this important book, a diverse collection of internationally respected scientists, philosophers, legal scholars, policymakers, and civil society representatives examine and reflect upon the global geoengineering debate they have helped shape. Opening with essays examining the historic origins of contemporary geoengineering ideas, the book goes on to explore varying perspectives from across the first decade of this global discourse since 2006. These essays methodically cover: the practical and ethical dilemmas geoengineering poses; the evolving geoengineering research agenda; the challenges geoengineering technologies present to current international legal and political frameworks; and differing perceptions of geoengineering from around the world. The book concludes with a series of forward looking essays, some drawing lessons from precedents for governing other global issues, others proposing how geoengineering technologies might be governed if/as they begin to emerge from the lab into the real world.
This book is an indispensable resource for scientists, activists, policymakers, and political figures aiming to engage in the emerging debate about geoengineering our climate.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part 1|4 pages
Historical context
part 2|4 pages
Contemporary framings
chapter Chapter 11|5 pages
“This is God’s stuff we’re messing with”
chapter Chapter 12|16 pages
The ethical dimensions of geoengineering
part 3|2 pages
Geoengineering experiments
chapter Chapter 15|7 pages
Past forays into SRM field research and implications for future governance
chapter Chapter 16|6 pages
Village science meets global discourse
chapter Chapter 17|6 pages
Capturing the imagination
part 4|2 pages
Existing institutions and emerging frameworks
chapter Chapter 20|5 pages
Why the UNFCCC and CBD should refrain from regulating solar climate engineering
part 5|4 pages
National, regional, and sectoral perspectives
chapter Chapter 26|5 pages
Geoengineering and the humanitarian challenge
part 6|4 pages
Geoengineering governanceFrom research to the real world