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Environmental science: Good governance for geoengineering

Author(s): Macnaghten P, Owen R

Published: November, 2011

Publisher: Nature

DOI: 10.1038/479293a

Tags: Governance, Research

URL: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v479/n7373/full/479293a.html

Abstract: Phil Macnaghten co-authored a comment piece in Nature reporting on his experience in chairing a panel convened by the EPSRC designed to govern the Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) project. On 26 September, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) halted the country’s first field trial of technology designed to engineer the climate. In the piece Phil explains the council’s decision, and draws lessons for future geoengineering projects.


Legitimate conditions for climate engineering

Author(s): Owen R

Published: October, 2011

Publisher: Environmental science & technology

DOI: 10.1021/es2033185

Tags: Ethics, Governance

URL: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es2033185

Abstract: On September 13th scientists announced preparations were underway for the first UK field trial of climate engineering feasibility. The proposed trial will be modest: it will pump water through a 1 km high balloon-tethered hose, to assess the feasibility of reflective particle injection high into the atmosphere, mimicking the temperature-reducing effects of volcanic eruptions. But it has stimulated considerable debate about whether research in this controversial field should be undertaken at all, and if so the conditions under which it is acceptable to proceed. Responding, the President of the UK’s Royal Society, Paul Nurse, replied that there should be research on both the efficacy and safety of geoengineering: “One would not take a medicine that had not been rigorously tested to make sure that it worked and was safe. But, if there was a risk of disease, one would research possible treatments and, once the effects were established, one would take the medicine if needed and appropriate. Similarly we need controlled testing of any technologies that might be used in the future”. His comments, and specifically this analogy to pharmaceuticals, raise important questions concerning the conditions under which we decide to deploy controversial technologies such as solar radiation management.


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