Seminar: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention Technologies

Thursday 1st March 2012

Location: The Oxford Martin School

Summary:

The issues of climate change and security of energy supply are complex and closely intertwined. Unless renewable energy moves quickly to the top of every government’s agenda, our ability to significantly reduce the harmful levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere look increasingly unlikely. But what happens if we are unable to reduce our global carbon emissions? Geoengineering, the deliberate, large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems to address climate change, provides one possibility of a solution. But are we willing to risk the implementation of such drastic measures and if we are, what assurances do we have that it will do more good than harm?

Panel:

• Dr Steve Rayner, Director, Institute for Science, Innovation and Society and James Martin Professor of Science and Civilisation
• Professor Richard Darton, Co-Director, Oxford Geoengineering Programme and Professor of Engineering Science, University of Oxford
• Dr John Constable, Director, Renewable Energy Foundation
• Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent, The Guardian

This event is part of a seminar series: "Can emerging technologies save the world?"

You can read a review of this event here.