12:00–2:00 pm University Law School Faculty Lounge
Introduction To Solar Geoengineering And Governance Challenges with Professor Barbara Koremenos (Political Science at the University of Michigan) and Professor Edward A. Parsons (School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles).
Over the next few decades, the Paris targets to limit global-average heating to 1.5 to 2.0 C are almost certain to be exceeded. Deep cuts in global emissions of greenhouse gases remain essential, but after decades of weak efforts and emissions growth, cuts cannot occur fast enough to reliably meet the targets. In this context, there is increasing attention to solar geoengineering, in particular Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), as a potential climate response. SAI would change the Earth’s energy balance by scattering a little incoming sunlight, to partly and temporarily offset the effects of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. While significant scientific uncertainties and technological hurdles remain, the most prominent concerns and controversies about SAI pertain to how it would be used and controlled, not its efficacy, performance, or side effects – in other words, it’s all about governance. Any use of SAI would entail multiple dimensions of choice, with global impact and the possibility of regional inequalities. Yet while intensifying climate risks and relatively low barriers make use of SAI more likely, there is a governance vacuum with respect to both development and potential use. After briefly introducing SAI, Koremenos and Parson will outline its major governance opportunities and challenges, including the possibilities and incentives for unilateral or self-interested use, SAI’s potential to trigger or exacerbate geopolitical conflict, the current political and rhetorical landscape, and the potential interactions of SAI and its governance with other elements of climate-change response and broader global governance.
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Audience: Faculty, graduate students, postdocs