December 1, 2011

expert reaction to the publication on geoengineering governance, by the Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative (SRMGI)

The SRMGI, convened by the Royal Society, published a report on the governance of geoengineering and the way forward.

Dr Matt Watson, Lecturer in Natural Hazards at the University of Bristol, said:

“The SRMGI report has put down an important marker from leading thinkers in Solar Radiation Management (SRM). Good governance for SRM is vital to allow room for careful, transparent research and to strongly control medium-to-large scale experiments which have environmental and societal impact.

“As conventional mitigation appears to continue to be politically challenging, research into climate engineering must be allowed to explore insurance policies. This may only be done on the clear understanding that, as per the first conclusion of SRGMI, CO2 emission reduction has to remain the top priority with climate engineering a distant – but potentially necessary – second.”