Afternoon Takeaways
(Un)governability and security risks
People outside the world of SRM science view the field through very different frames, which need to be considered. Olaf Corry said security experts saw SRM not as a potential global public good, but as a source of geopolitical tension and instability. “We always assume [governance] will be driven by climate logics, but there are other logics that will kick in. When or if this moves from the lab to the skies, we won’t have very much power over it.” Jeroen Oomen thought SRM could be at a moment similar to the 2018 IPCC report, when carbon removal became seen as a necessary component to limiting warming to 1.5°C, normalising it and creating a sense of inevitability. Hin-Yan Liu warned: “We think we regulate technologies, but ultimately they seem to regulate us.”
Marine cloud brightening research
Moderated by Romaric Odoulami, this session covered recent research on marine cloud brightening (MCB). Edmund Reardon brought an engineering perspective and discussed his progress towards developing a suitable sprayer for MCB trials. Annelot Broerze investigated the impacts of excess water spraying and the radiative response to MCB. Erin Emme then explored various scenarios, including single hemisphere MCB and the impact of seasonality. Lastly, Tianle Yuan – who wasn’t present but pre-recorded a video – evaluated MCB using observations of ship tracks as a natural analogue.
Exploring the technical, social, and policy dimensions of SRM experiments
Benjamin Redmond Roche led a series of deep discussions of SRM field experiments and the governance issues they raise. Focusing on five diverse case studies, the discussions highlighted the important distinctions of scale, geography, jurisdiction, and intervention type in the governance of SRM field experiments.
Presenting the WCRP Lighthouse Activity for research on climate intervention
Daniele Visioni summarised the motivations and plans for the new World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Lighthouse Activity on climate intervention and then moderated a discussion highlighting the role this programme can play in bringing SRM into mainstream climate science and policy discussions. Participants included Inés Camilloni, Simone Tilmes, Chris Lennard, and Frank Keutsch.
Environmentalism and equitable SRM research
Nana Ama Browne Klutse and Lisa Dilling shared their thoughts with Viktor Jaakkola on modelling potential regional impacts and uncertainties, and how to communicate beyond the SRM community. It was followed by a discussion between Ernest Ofori and Ellen Haaslahti, led by Taylen Reddy, on the need for – and lessons learnt in – developing youth movements in SRM research, drawing upon their own experiences with GAYO and Operaatio Arktis, respectively.
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