Why I Support a Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering Technologies
Risky and Morally Contested Technologies Require International Oversight and Regulation
Solar Engineering: Lessons from Nature’s Laboratory
Moves to tackle global heating by reducing the level of incoming solar radiation constitute nothing more than risky experiments that seek to ‘fix’ the mess we have already made of our once stable climate. Solar radiation management (SRM) does nothing to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As such, it is simply […]
The Global South Must Rally to Delegitimize Solar Geoengineering Technologies
The gradual legitimization of solar geoengineering technologies in the discourses on global climate governance is a dangerous trend. As the climate crisis worsens, and the world witnesses increasingly deadly disasters, a section of the scientific and policy communities is pushing for greater space for discussions on these technologies as a solution. While arguing in favour […]
Economic interests and ideologies behind solar geoengineering research in the United States
Solar geoengineering research – also discussed as solar radiation management or stratospheric aerosol injection – is often thought of as a futuristic climate emergency measure, or as a tool of the fossil fuel industry to push back energy transitions as much as possible. In this post, we show that solar geoengineering is mostly now supported by […]
Experimentation with solar geoengineering will not be allowed in Mexico
Unofficial translation by the Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement team of the official announcement by the Mexican government banning solar geoengineering experimentations in Mexico. Start of the announcement Semarnat and Conacyt will carry out actions in accordance with the precautionary principle to protect communities and the environment. Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales | January […]
Mexico Bans Solar Geoengineering Experiments
Should governments try to artificially cool the planet through ‘climate engineering’, for instance by injecting tons of sunlight-reflecting sulfur particles into the stratosphere? While some scientists seriously suggest that ‘solar geoengineering’ should be part of future climate policy, the government of Mexico has now taken a different stance: it has decided to ban all solar […]
Why the new “Letter of Support for Solar Geoengineering Research” is misguided
The normalization of solar geoengineering as part of climate policy is progressing, with growing numbers of journal articles by geoengineering research advocates, editorial pushing by some science journals, and supportive actions by a few science networks in the United States. However, the opposition to solar geoengineering in global academia is growing as well, and more […]
My Continent Is Not Your Giant Climate Laboratory
Several environmentalists last year presented Africa’s leading climate negotiators with a bold idea: A technology called solar geoengineering could protect their countries from the worst effects of climate change, they said. While insisting they were impartial, representatives from the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative said that these technologies, which claim to be able to re-engineer the climate itself, either by […]
Should There Be a ‘Non-Use’ Agreement on Solar Geoengineering?
Why I signed the call for a non-use agreement, and what that might mean for research. Although I’m a newbie at the Emmett Institute, I have been working on geoengineering for a decade now. I have heard countless arguments over whether and how solar geoengineering could be useful in the struggle to manage climate change. […]
Response to Overshoot Commission Report
The privately funded “Global Commission on Governing Risks from Climate Overshoot” released on 14 September 2023 a report that proposes a range of measures to reduce risks from climate “overshoot,” which the commission defines as exceeding the goal of limiting average global warming to 1.5oC. The report attempts to be comprehensive by acknowledging the need […]