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Solar Geoengineering’s Brave New World: Thoughts on the Governance of an Unprecedented Technology

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  • Scott Barrett

Abstract

Due to the failure of international efforts to limit atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, consideration is now being given to solar geoengineering—a deliberate intervention to limit global warming without altering the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. In contrast to emission cuts, geoengineering is expected to be cheap, quick to lower temperature, and feasible through the use of a single intervention. However, geoengineering is an imperfect substitute for emission reductions and will likely have undesirable side effects, only some of which can be anticipated before geoengineering is deployed. Most importantly, because geoengineering can be undertaken unilaterally, it creates issues of governance: Who gets to decide if, when, and how geoengineering should be attempted? This article provides an introduction to the key issues surrounding the governance of this unprecedented technology. (JEL: Q54, F53, K33)

Suggested Citation

  • Scott Barrett, 2014. "Solar Geoengineering’s Brave New World: Thoughts on the Governance of an Unprecedented Technology," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(2), pages 249-269.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:renvpo:v:8:y:2014:i:2:p:249-269.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gernot Klepper & Wilfried Rickels, 2014. "Climate Engineering: Economic Considerations and Research Challenges," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(2), pages 270-289.
    2. Martin L. Weitzman, 2015. "A Voting Architecture for the Governance of Free-Driver Externalities, with Application to Geoengineering," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 117(4), pages 1049-1068, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard S.J. Tol, 2016. "Distributional Implications of Geoengineering," Working Paper Series 8316, Department of Economics, University of Sussex.
    2. Garth Heutel & Juan Moreno-Cruz & Katharine Ricke, 2016. "Climate Engineering Economics," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 99-118, October.
    3. Heyen, Daniel & Horton, Joshua & Moreno-Cruz, Juan, 2019. "Strategic implications of counter-geoengineering: Clash or cooperation?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 153-177.
    4. Richard S.J. Tol, 2016. "Distributional Implications of Geoengineering," Working Paper Series 08316, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    5. Heutel, Garth & Moreno-Cruz, Juan & Shayegh, Soheil, 2018. "Solar geoengineering, uncertainty, and the price of carbon," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 24-41.
    6. Tommi Ekholm & Hannele Korhonen, 2016. "Climate change mitigation strategy under an uncertain Solar Radiation Management possibility," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 503-515, December.
    7. Michael Finus & Francesco Furini, 2022. "Global Climate Governance in the Light of Geoengineering: A Shot in the Dark?," Graz Economics Papers 2022-02, University of Graz, Department of Economics.
    8. Rickels, Wilfried & Quaas, Martin F. & Ricke, Katharine & Quaas, Johannes & Moreno-Cruz, Juan & Smulders, Sjak, 2020. "Who turns the global thermostat and by how much?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Dovern, Jonas & Harnisch, Sebastian & Klepper, Gernot & Platt, Ulrich & Oschlies, Andreas & Rickels, Wilfried, 2015. "Radiation Management: Gezielte Beeinflussung des globalen Strahlungshaushalts zur Kontrolle des anthropogenen Klimawandels," Kiel Discussion Papers 549/550, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Quaas, Martin F. & Quaas, Johannes & Rickels, Wilfried & Boucher, Olivier, 2017. "Are there reasons against open-ended research into solar radiation management? A model of intergenerational decision-making under uncertainty," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1-17.
    11. Daniel Heyen & Thilo Wiertz & Peter Irvine, 2015. "Regional disparities in SRM impacts: the challenge of diverging preferences," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 557-563, December.
    12. Todd Sandler, 2018. "Collective action and geoengineering," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 105-125, March.
    13. Niklas V. Lehmann, 2022. "Exploring the stability of solar geoengineering agreements," Papers 2210.09145, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.
    14. Wil Burns & Simon Nicholson, 2017. "Bioenergy and carbon capture with storage (BECCS): the prospects and challenges of an emerging climate policy response," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 7(4), pages 527-534, December.
    15. Piergiuseppe Pezzoli & Johannes Emmerling & Massimo Tavoni, 2023. "SRM on the table: the role of geoengineering for the stability and effectiveness of climate coalitions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(10), pages 1-21, October.
    16. Todd Sandler, 2017. "Environmental cooperation: contrasting international environmental agreements," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 345-364.
    17. Todd L. Cherry & Stephan Kroll & David M. McEvoy, 2023. "Climate cooperation with risky solar geoengineering," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(10), pages 1-14, October.
    18. Ryo Moriyama & Masahiro Sugiyama & Atsushi Kurosawa & Kooiti Masuda & Kazuhiro Tsuzuki & Yuki Ishimoto, 2017. "The cost of stratospheric climate engineering revisited," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 1207-1228, December.
    19. Muhammet A. Bas & Aseem Mahajan, 2020. "Contesting the climate," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 1985-2002, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • K33 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - International Law

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