Navigating Climate Intervention Research Issues and Opportunities: A Thoughtful and Inclusive Path Forward

Climate change requires urgent action. Increasingly, the world is considering technology-based climate intervention approaches—often called geoengineering. Many of these approaches are untested and the consequences are not yet well understood. While climate intervention research has been justified as being necessary in order to expand the range of options available to policy makers in the future, and is thus receiving increased research funding and attention, many questions remain on efficacy, risks and potential harm versus potential benefits.

Recognizing the need for guiding principles in this dynamic and sometimes controversial space, in 2022, AGU launched its plan to develop an Ethical Framework for Climate Intervention Research—a code of conduct to guide climate intervention research measures that may be needed in addition to emissions reduction.   The resulting proposed ethical framework principles, facilitated through global community participation, are now publicly available for download in nine languages.  The foundations for these updated principles and associated recommendations, the process by which they were developed, their implications, and the current process for global dissemination and engagement will be discussed.