Solar geoengineering represents a set of risky and untested—yet potentially beneficial—technologies that could help address the growing risks of climate change, especially when paired with aggressive emissions mitigation, carbon dioxide removal, and climate resilience efforts. While interest has been growing in solar geoengineering, more physical climate and social science research is needed before policymakers consider developing deployment capability. Additionally, ongoing and robust public engagement with a diverse set of global stakeholders and communities is crucial, especially as the impacts may affect regions differently.
On September 28 and 29, Resources for the Future (RFF) hosted “Solar Geoengineering Futures: Interdisciplinary Research to Inform Decisionmaking”, a two-day conference focused on the key questions informing ongoing research and decisionmaking on solar geoengineering. This hybrid event featured an interdisciplinary group of leading solar geoengineering experts exploring the major challenges, uncertainties, and potential benefits related to this emerging set of technologies.
Panel 4. Plausible Non-optimal Near-term Solar Geoengineering Scenarios:
Several decades of experience with global coordination and cooperation around climate mitigation suggests that solar geoengineering might emerge in a non-optimal manner. This session will examine how this might happen, what it might mean, and what actions might be warranted in the near term.
– Beth Chalecki, University of Nebraska Omaha
– Tyler Felgenhauer, Duke University
– Joshua Horton, Harvard Kennedy School
– Jessica Seddon, Yale University
– Erin Sikorsky, Center for Climate and Security
