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The Missing Pieces of Geoengineering Research Governance

2016; University of Minnesota Law School; Volume: 100; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

0026-5535

Albert Lin,

Climate Change and Geoengineering

G EO E.Minn.Apr2016.edits.AL.docx 12/6/2016 9:47 AM Article The Missing Pieces of Geoengineering Research Governance Albert C. Lin † INTRODUCTION Geoengineering research is at a crossroads. 1 With growing urgency, scientists have expressed interest in moving beyond computer modeling and laboratory trials. 2 However, recent ef- forts to conduct field experiments have encountered strong op- position. The intensifying controversy points to the need to es- tablish a system of geoengineering research governance. Two research projects that received substantial media attention— the Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) project, and an ocean fertilization experiment spon- sored by a native Haida village in British Columbia—illustrate the concerns that geoengineering field research raises. The U.K. Research Councils commissioned the SPICE pro- ject in 2010 to investigate the potential release of aerosols into † Professor of Law, University of California, Davis, School of Law. Thanks to Dean Kevin Johnson, Associate Dean Vik Amar, and the U.C. Davis School of Law for financial support for this project, to Jesse Reynolds, Wil Burns, and participants at the Climate Engineering Conference 2014 and the Berkeley Environmental Law Colloquium for their thoughtful questions and comments, and to Rebecca LaGrandeur Harms for her research assistance. Copyright © 2016 by Albert C. Lin. 1. Geoengineering is a catch-all term for various proposed climate change policy responses that do not constitute reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or adaptation. See Albert C. Lin, Geoengineering, in G LOBAL C LI- MATE C HANGE AND U.S. L AW 715, 715 (Michael B. Gerrard & Jody Freeman eds., 2d ed. 2014); see also infra Part I.A (defining geoengineering and discuss- ing examples). 2. See, e.g., N AT ’ L R ESEARCH C OUNCIL , C LIMATE I NTERVENTION : R E- FLECTING S UNLIGHT T O C OOL E ARTH 152 (2015) (recommending development of a research program on methods to modify the Earth’s reflectivity, including small-scale field experiments); Jane C.S. Long et al., Start Research on Cli- mate Engineering, 518 N ATURE 29, 30 (2015) (urging commencement of small- scale outdoor experiments).