GDB3 | Geoengineering - Overarching Great Debate

Geoengineering - Overarching Great Debate

Convener: Marie G. P. Cavitte | Co-conveners: Zsanett Greta Papp, Noel Baker, Erika von Schneidemesser

Thu, 07 May, 16:15–18:00 (CEST)

 

Room E1

Thu, 16:15

As our world approaches 1.5°C of global warming, as worldwide emissions continue to grow, and the impacts of climate change escalate, there is a general sentiment that we are running out of time. Increasingly, geoengineering concepts are being pushed into the media and policy spheres, using this sentiment of urgency to frame these concepts as “buying us time” for mitigation. There are many concepts, with the most advanced concepts including solar radiation management (marine cloud brightening, stratospheric aerosol injection mostly), sea ice thickening/brightening, sea curtains, tarping mountain glaciers, ocean fertilisation or alkalinity enhancement, as well as ocean biomass dumping, and many more. Some might target the root cause of our rising temperatures by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but with detrimental effects on the ecosystems impacted. Other concepts would just attenuate the symptoms of our planet, the rising global temperature.

Are geoengineering concepts a distraction from our urgent need for adaptation and mitigation? In a world where research funding, political focus on the green transition, and geopolitical order are dwindling, are we reducing our chances of reaching the highest possible mitigation ambition to stay well below 2°C and pursue efforts to stay below 1.5°C by even discussing these options? Several of the targeted ecosystems (e.g. our deep ocean, cloud-aerosol interactions, etc.) are not yet well understood at a fundamental level. Is it appropriate to advocate for their manipulation without first conducting adequate fundamental research?

In this Great Debate, we aim to have a constructive and open dialogue on the value of delving into geoengineering concepts in the context of mitigation targets and policy dialogues.

Session description

Session assets

Recorded session Session materials

Speakers

• Yolanda Lopez-Maldonado, Indigenous Science, Mexico
• Philippe Tulkens, European Commission, Belgium
• Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, International Institute for Applied System Analysis, Austria
• Wil Burns, American University, United States of America
• Sian Henley