Once a Fringe Idea, Geoengineering Moves to Center Stage in Policy Arena

摘要

Climate geoengineering was once the province only of a few radical scientists gaming worst-case scenarios. Today, it is a dynamic and rapidly emerging suite of poten-tial responses to climate change. Just a de-cade ago considered as on the outer fringes, deliberate interference in the atmosphere has become a credible option as a consequence of increasing evidence of the catastrophic im-plications of a warmer world and the failure of the global community to pursue sufficiently ag-gressive efforts to reduce emissions. ELI convened a webinar bringing together three experts who collectively believe that it is time to consider at least two forms of geoengi-neering, solar radiation management and car-bon dioxide removal. Shuchi Talati started with an overview of the two major genres and some of the research and implementation consid-erations. Robert James focused on potential domestic legal governance structures, with an emphasis on solar radiation management. Wil Burns concluded with an overview of the inter-national institutions that might be applicable to governing carbon dioxide removal.