Towards an Analytical Framework for Evaluating the Ethical Dimensions of Geoengineering Proposals

Over the last few years, geoengineering, or the ‘deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climate in order to moderate global warming’, has been attracting increasing attention within the portfolio of strategies to limit the impact and consequences of climate change. However, this ‘plan B’ is inevitably conditioned by our limited understanding of the scientific basis of climate change, and by major uncertainties regarding the impacts these technologies might have on human and natural systems. Therefore, in spite of the controversy prevailing in the debates surrounding geoengineering technologies, there is widespread agreement on the need to consider the far-reaching ethical and social questions that intentional climate change proposals entail. Although some attempts have been made to address this need (and to further ethical awareness amongst the scientific community), an ethical framework that could inform policy responses to geoengineering research, deployment and governance has yet to be developed. In this sense, the overall objective of this paper is to address the need to develop an analytical framework that can contribute to a better understanding of the ethical and social issues raised by geoengineering proposals, and that can be used as the basis for further analysis with a view to developing and implementing appropriate governance mechanisms to steer both geoengineering research and deployment.

CURVELO DA SILVA CAMPOS ALVES Paula; 

2014-11-17

Common Ground Publishing

JRC81669

1835-7156,   

http://ijc.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.185/prod.228,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC81669,