https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/

*Citations*: Williams, B. M., Shimamoto, M. & Graumlich, L. J., (2024) “An
Ethical Framework for Climate Intervention Research: What It Is and Why You
Should Care”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 59(1), 82–96. doi:
https://doi.org/10.16995/zygon.15389

*Abstract*
Climate change poses significant threats to ecosystems, human health, and
global stability. Despite international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, the Earth’s climate continues to warm, leading to extreme
weather events, rising sea levels, and other detrimental impacts. In
response to this crisis, scientists have begun exploring various strategies
to mitigate climate change through geoengineering, which involves
deliberate interventions in the Earth’s climate system. This article
provides an overview of climate geoengineering research, focusing on key
techniques, challenges, and ethical considerations, including actions being
taken by the American Geophysical Union (AGU), a nonprofit professional
scientific society, to develop an ethical framework to help guide research
in this important area. AGU also is driving global engagement on this
topic, including with leaders and members of faith communities.

The Case for Change

Our planet is at risk. The urgency and impact of global warming is bad and
is getting worse. Increasingly severe harmful impacts in many forms can be
seen across the globe, including human suffering, societal disruption, and
reduced ecological health. Impacts such as record-high global temperatures,
more severe storms, increased drought, a warming and rising ocean, more
health risks, increased poverty, and displacement are all reported in
authoritative reports by global climate scientists (United Nations, n.d.-a
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B19>).

One hope for reversing this trend was the 2016 Paris Agreement, a legally
binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196
parties (independent countries) at the Twenty-First Conference of the
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(COP21) in Paris, France, in December 2015 and entered into force in
November 2016.

The overarching goal of the Paris Agreement was to “hold the increase in
the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial
levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C
above pre-industrial levels” (United Nations, n.d.-b.
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B20>). However, in recent
years, world leaders have stressed the need to limit global warming to
1.5°C by the end of this century. That is because the United Nation’s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that crossing the 1.5°C
threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts,
including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves, and rainfall. To
limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before
2025 at the latest, decline 43 percent by 2030, and target reaching
net-zero emissions by 2050. The agreement also called for each country to
establish and report goals for reducing its annual greenhouse gas emissions
(United Nations, n.d.-a <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B19>
).

The climate action urgency is this: emission-reduction goals are not being
met; in fact, global greenhouse gas emissions are actually increasing!
There is now general scientific agreement that dramatic reductions in
global CO2 emissions combined with the active removal of CO2 from the
atmosphere may be needed (IPCC 2023
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B11>). This consensus has
resulted in an expansion of climate intervention research. The likelihood
that global average temperatures will overshoot the targets agreed to by
the world’s nations (1.5–2.0 degrees Celsius) has led the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change to consider climate intervention as a potential
pathway to reduce, remove, or offset some of the effects of climate change,
with risks and trade-offs that need to be better understood. In some cases,
limited outdoor testing is already underway and growing—attracting much
attention—but in many cases without ethical guidelines (National Academies
of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2021
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B13>).
What Is Climate Intervention and Why the Concern?

Climate intervention and climate geoengineering are used interchangeably in
this article. Climate geoengineering refers to large-scale schemes for
intervention in the Earth’s oceans, soils, and atmosphere with the aim of
reducing the effects of climate change, usually temporarily (Grantham
Research Institute 2018 <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B10>).
While some argue that climate intervention should be a last resort, others
argue that Earth is rapidly approaching a climate emergency, requiring the
consideration of all options (Robock 2020
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B16>). The *Sixth
Assessment Report* of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated
that the risk of reaching climate tipping points becomes high by around 2°C
above preindustrial temperatures and very high between 2.5°C to 4°C (IPCC
2023 <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B11>).

The two primary techniques of climate intervention being researched are
solar radiation modification (SRM) and carbon dioxide removal. SRM aims to
reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface, thereby
counteracting global warming. One proposed method involves injecting
aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight back into space,
mimicking the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions. Research suggests that
SRM could effectively lower global temperatures and offset some of the
effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

Solar radiation modification (SRM) is a deliberate and large-scale
intervention in the Earth’s climatic system, with the aim of reducing
global warming. It attempts to offset the effects of greenhouse gases by
causing the Earth to absorb less solar radiation. The idea that the climate
could be artificially cooled emerged in the 1960s at the same time as the
potential risks of climate change were first being taken seriously. SRM is
an umbrella term for proposed technologies that would reflect more sunlight
back into space, or allow more infrared radiation to escape into space,
thereby creating a net cooling effect on the earth’s climate. SRM
technology options include stratospheric aerosol interventions (SAI —the
most studied option), marine cloud brightening (MCB), ground-based albedo
modifications (GBAM), ocean albedo change (OAC) and cirrus cloud thinning
(CCT). Modeling studies have shown SRM could potentially offset some
climate change risks, including the increase in frequency and intensity of
extremes of temperature and precipitation. However, it could also introduce
a range of new risks related to the change of global weather pattern. (European
Commission 2023 <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B7>)

Carbon dioxide removal techniques seek to remove CO2 from the atmosphere
and store it in various reservoirs, such as oceans, forests, or geological
formations. Examples of carbon dioxide removal methods include
afforestation/reforestation, ocean fertilization, direct air capture,
enhanced weathering, and direct ocean capture, among others. These
potentially could be deployed at a range of scales and currently vary
widely in their scientific and market readiness.

While these approaches hold promise for reducing atmospheric CO2
concentrations,
they present technical, economic, and environmental challenges (Kulkarni
2022 <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B12>).

While carbon dioxide removal research and testing are more advanced than
for SRM, many other climate geoengineering techniques remain largely
theoretical or untested at scale. Implementing large-scale interventions
could have unforeseen consequences and unintended side effects on
ecosystems and weather patterns. Additionally, the long-term effectiveness
of these strategies is uncertain, as they may only provide temporary relief
from climate change. More research is needed.

The governance of climate geoengineering also poses significant challenges
due to its global scale and potential geopolitical implications. The lack
of international agreements and regulations governing geoengineering
research and deployment raises concerns about accountability, equity, and
unintended consequences. Balancing the need for innovation with ethical
considerations remains a critical issue in the field of climate
geoengineering.

Proponents of geoengineering state that:

[t]he primary challenges of geoengineering are conducting field experiments
to accurately assess potential consequences and developing international
agreements to safely deploy and monitor geoengineering technologies. If
geoengineering were adopted, a combination of techniques would be used
depending on cost, regional conditions, and the climate’s response.
Different methods may have local or global effects, so regulatory policies
need to be agreed upon by the international community. Therefore, many
scientists have called for the creation of regulatory agencies to advise
the United Nations and lay out plans for how geoengineering methods should
be prioritized. Geoengineering could help us reverse climate change in a
more controlled manner, buying us time to make our society more
sustainable. (Kulkarni 2022
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B12>)

The Role of a Professional Society: American Geophysical Union Action

In 2022, the American Geophysical Union (AGU)1
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#n1> board of directors
authorized an ethical framework initiative to advance research progress on
these climate intervention-related topics. The context for AGU action to
help address the growing climate crisis is summarized in below passage from
a 2022 AGU white paper titled “AGU Climate Intervention Engagement: Leading
the Development of an Ethical Framework.” The white paper defines the needs
and outline plans for AGU (2022
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B1>) actions:

Current technologies for active removal of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases from the atmosphere are not nearly at the scale needed to
reach net zero emissions. Significant questions, both practical and
ethical, remain as to the long-term storage of removed CO2. As a result,
other potential climate intervention technologies to mitigate warming are
being researched and discussed in both the public and private sectors,
including a variety of approaches known as “geoengineering.” These methods
(including SRM and Other Climate Altering Technologies) are largely
untested and pose significant risks if implemented at scale. They should
not move forward for deployment without an international ethical governance
structure to allow globally acceptable risk-controlled testing.

An AGU (2023a <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B2>) position
statement on climate geoengineering states:

Given the likelihood that the world will overshoot global average
temperature targets, Climate Intervention (CI) measures such as carbon
dioxide removal and solar radiation management may be part of a
comprehensive risk-management strategy. CI measures cannot substitute for
deep cuts in emissions or adaptation. That said, research aimed at
understanding the benefits and impacts of CI measures is necessary and must
consider global transparency, ethical, and inclusion practices and be
subject to robust governance and oversight structures. CI research must be
part of a broader climate solutions package that, given the urgency of
addressing climate change, should be funded at a level matching the
enormous scale of the space programs of an earlier era.

The governance of climate intervention is not straightforward. Many
scientific reports call for dramatic intervention to avoid catastrophic
climate tipping points, and research and small-scale tests are already in
progress. However, the unintended consequences (or what engineers call
‘revenge effects’) of large-scale climate intervention are not fully
understood. There is evidence that some large-scale climate interventions
may have significant negative local and regional consequences. For
instance, modeling studies of solar radiation modification suggest such an
approach could alter the South Asian monsoon season and reduce
precipitation in India—affecting food security for more than a billion
people (Bala and Gupta 2019
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B6>). As a result, some
have called for a total ban on such research and approaches (Solar
Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement 2022
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B17>).
Ethical and Social Implications

Climate geoengineering raises complex ethical dilemmas regarding
responsibility, justice, and intergenerational equity. Critics argue that
deploying geoengineering technologies could undermine efforts to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable development. Furthermore,
geoengineering interventions may disproportionately impact vulnerable
communities and exacerbate existing social inequalities.

The challenges around the potential to engage in climate engineering are
multifaceted and often controversial, inviting a need for broad
conversations and deeper understanding. Many of the questions are ethical
and do not have quick or easy answers. For example, more than 1,500 people
signed a 2022 international petition calling for a halt to climate
geoengineering research (Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement 2022
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B17>). Similarly, in 2023,
more than 100 scientists signed an open letter supporting the need for
climate intervention research (An Open Letter Regarding Research on
Reflecting Sunlight to Reduce the Risks of Climate Change 2023
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B4>).

In this context, AGU has proposed that climate engineering research,
policy, governance, and potential scaling discussions should first require
directly addressing the ethical issues and ethical dilemmas involved. AGU
proposed the development and use of broadly held ethical principles to help
navigate this territory based on definitions of ethical issues and ethical
dilemmas (AGU 2023b <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B3>):

   -

   “Ethical issues” are the difficult social questions that involve some
   level of controversy over the right thing to do. Environmental protection
   is an example of a commonly discussed ethical issue, because there can be
   trade-offs between environmental, societal, and economic risk factors.
   -

   “Ethical dilemmas” are situations in which it is difficult for an
   individual to make decisions either because the right course of action is
   unclear or because it carries some potential negative consequences for the
   person or people involved.

AGU leadership’s views are that professional societies are critical for
establishing ethical standards on important geoethics issues. AGU
recognizes that while professional societies do not have the same
enforcement strength as nation states, the larger professional societies
with global membership have the potential to offer consistent ethical
standards across national borders.

Following its white paper, AGU has proposed a set of preliminary Ethical
Framework Principles for climate intervention research, experimentation,
and outdoor scaling. These principles are the result of extensive, diverse
insights collected through workshops, summits, surveys, and outreach
discussions with participants around the world, including in regions most
affected by the consequences of climate change.
American Geophysical Union Internal Process for Developing Climate
Intervention Research Principles

To directly address the ethical issues and ethical dilemmas around climate
intervention research and potential scaling, in 2022 the AGU undertook an
initiative to facilitate voluntary ethical principles towards advancing
needed discussion and governance policy. AGU does not advocate for climate
intervention; however, it believes that the urgent priority of a healthy
climate requires enhanced climate intervention research and community
engagement, and that ethical guidance is needed. Internally, AGU adopted
the following engagement principles to guide this work (AGU 2022
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B1>):

We are committed to:

   -

   ensuring that research about climate intervention strategies is done in
   ways that are inclusive, representative, and just;
   -

   ensuring that research about climate intervention strategies is done in
   ways that do not make deployment inevitable;
   -

   ensuring that research about climate intervention strategies does not
   undermined efforts to reduce carbon emissions; and
   -

   assuring public participation and consultation in the development of
   ethical framework decision-making mechanisms and processes.

In their white paper, AGU details why it was positioned to lead efforts to
develop an ethical framework:

   -

   AGU science and scientists represent a deep resource of knowledge
   necessary for proper climate intervention assessments.
   -

   For more than 100 years, AGU has been a trusted and respected voice in
   science policy, scientific ethics and scientific publications. AGU also has
   unique global scientific convening expertise that can be used to forge
   partnerships and calls to action to proactively address and coordinate
   scientific attention and ethical climate actions.
   -

   The AGU Strategic Plan makes an imperative call for AGU to (1) catalyze
   discovery and solutions to scientific challenges, (2) promote and exemplify
   an inclusive scientific culture, and (3) partner broadly with other
   organizations and sectors to address scientific and societal challenges.
   One of the most pressing science-related societal challenges needing action
   is global climate change.
   -

   Building on existing programs, AGU is uniquely positioned to lead in
   bringing inclusive scientific outreach to local communities globally and to
   assure attraction and development of early-career and next-generation
   scientists in this space to proactively address the climate change crisis
   around the world in both policy and ethical practice strategies over the
   next 30 years.
   -

   Because of the urgency of this growing crisis, bold and sustained action
   by AGU to help lead and address research about climate intervention
   strategies and implementation is both an ethical and moral organizational
   obligation.
   -

   AGU has used its convening power to assemble a global advisory body of
   more than 40 ethicists, scientists, policy makers and other experts to help
   guide this work. (AGU 2022
   <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B1>)

Further, AGU’s engagement principles were developed with the understanding
that climate intervention research, if tested at large scale, could have
impact not only within national jurisdictions (land and territorial seas)
but also outside national jurisdictions (the atmosphere, space, the high
seas, Antarctica).
Balancing Caution with Urgency: Integrating Climate Justice Issues

Based on the urgency of rapidly increasing negative impacts of climate
change, AGU leadership invested the direct resources and organizational
expertise necessary to partner and co-lead with other organizations and
governing bodies to support the voluntary ethical principles and adopt an
associated governance framework to help guide climate intervention
research. Importantly, the 2023 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
synthesis report states that approximately 3.3 billion to 3.6 billion
people—almost half of the world’s total population—are among the most
vulnerable to the negative impacts of global climate change, with people in
the developing world hit hardest (IPCC 2023
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B11>). Also, between 2010
and 2020, human mortality from floods, droughts, and storms was fifteen
times higher in highly vulnerable regions compared to regions with very low
vulnerability (IPCC 2023
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B11>). Thus, there is a
need to balance caution with urgency and proactively address issues around
climate justice. AGU has declared that an ethical governance framework for
climate intervention research and potential scaling “must proactively
address the following issues”:

   -

   distributive justice (who benefits and who is harmed)
   -

   procedural justice (who decides/how will geoengineering decisions be
   made)
   -

   local right of refusal versus global impact of refusal
   -

   capacity to conduct research not being equitably distributed
   -

   measurements and reporting:
   -

      land use and ocean issues.
      -

      slippery slope and moral hazard hypotheses (and how to evaluate those
      hypotheses) (Tang 2023
      <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B18>)
      -

      levels or maturity matrix for various phases of research and field
      experiments or deployment. (AGU 2022
      <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B1>)

AGU is acting to assure that its proposed ethical framework principles
proactively address climate justice as a priority (AGU 2023b
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B3>).
Climate Intervention Attitudes Survey

AGU also sponsored a survey of attitudes on geoengineering. In closely
interrelated work, Professor Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld2
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#n2> of Brandeis University
reports that:

[a] survey of 156 experienced geoscientists and a series of five
expert-invited workshops provide in initial look at this complex landscape.
While some respondents say we should just focus on reducing carbon
emissions, 95% of geoscientists surveyed see ethical standards as important
for geoengineering research. There is near universal (97%) agreement on
ethical standards for large-scale “outdoor” research and very high
agreement (85%) for small-scale studies. Just 63% say ethical standards are
important for lab and simulation studies, raising the challenge of
connecting “upstream” lab/simulation research with “downstream” small- and
large-scale research. Over 90% of geoscientists responding support
voluntary compliance and monitoring, but over 80% say it will be hard to
do. Ensuring shared governance of ethical standards, principles and
guidelines for climate intervention research and deployment—across nations,
public organizations, and the private sector—is seen as important by 92% of
respondents, but is seen as hard to do by 88%. Additionally, 91% see it as
important that ethical standards apply equally to commercial enterprises.
80% of respondents call for the approach to ethical standards to be
inclusive and 86% call for special attention to vulnerable populations.
Early career geoscientists and geoscientists from the Global South have
stronger views on most issues, pointing to the importance of lifting up
their voices. These data provide a window into the complex landscape that
must be navigated to advance ethical standards for geoengineering. (Joel
Cutcher-Gershenfeld, pers. comm.; manuscript in progress)

Building on Prior Work: Five Ethical Framework Principles for Guiding
Climate Intervention Research

In developing the proposed ethical principles framework, AGU looked to
other voluntary and compulsory national and international governance
structures that have been developed over the past two decades to address
new and emerging technologies that present huge potential human, global
health, or environmental risk. Four recent examples are (1) human cloning,
(2) the development of genetically modified crops, (3) the advancement and
application of nanotechnology, and (4) the emergence of CRISPR
gene-altering technology.3
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#n3>

Building on previous geoengineering ethical principles such as the Oxford
Principles (Oxford Geoengineering Programme 2009
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B15>), the Asilomar
Principles (Asilomar Scientific Organizing Committee 2010
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B5>), and the 2019 Tollgate
Principles (Gardiner and Fragnière 2018
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B9>), AGU has now published
draft proposed ethical principles for guiding climate intervention research
(AGU 2023b <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B3>).

These five principles have been developed through an ongoing outreach
process designed to invite broader views beyond those scientists and
engineering organizations directly involved in the research. For this work,
AGU has sponsored workshops, summits, surveys, open comment periods, and
other mechanisms to helps assure greater representation is considered by
researchers and those sponsoring field experiments towards climate
interventions technologies. The proposed ethical principles for climate
intervention research, experimentation, and potential scaling are now more
fully developed, with extensive detail around each (AGU 2023b
<https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B3>):

   1.

   *Societal interest/public participation:* Ensuring open and transparent
   communication with the public and the creation of engagement guidelines for
   feedback.
   -

      The public should be provided with timely information about climate
      intervention research, especially outdoor experiments, and communities in
      the vicinity of any planned outdoor experiments should be given notice in
      advance, with the opportunity to comment.
      -

      Care should be taken to identify and invite public comment from
      regions where the experiments are being conducted, as well as
those who may
      be impacted.
      -

      Project plans for climate intervention experiments should include
      plans for post project monitoring (publicly communicated), including
      monitoring for potential adverse impacts.
      -

      Any planned outdoor experiments should exhibit due diligence to
      prevent and mitigate potential environmental harm.
      -

      Engagement with vulnerable and marginalized populations should be
      based on norms and procedures co-developed with the involved communities.
      2.

   *Environmental justice:* Discourse with the relevant, diverse,
   indigenous communities impacted by climate change and to be impacted by
   climate interventions with particular consideration of their equity and
   inclusion in the process as a whole.
   -

      Concepts and values advancing environmental justice are determined
      through discourse with relevant, diverse communities.
      -

      The ways in which environmental justice are to be realized are
      designed with explicit attention to historical injustices.
      -

      Consideration of transparency, inclusion, fairness, equity or social
      issues within or beyond direct impacts of climate intervention
experiments
      should be addressed in advance with relevant impacted communities.
      -

      Project sponsors should understand, anticipate and be prepared to
      address five forms of environment justice:
      -

         Distributive justice
         -

         Intergenerational justice
         -

         Procedural justice
         -

         Corrective justice
         -

         Ecological justice
         3.

   *Data principles/transparency:* Ensuring climate intervention research
   creates data in compliance with FAIR (*F*indable, *A*ccessible,
*I*nteroperable
   and *R*eusable) principles (FAIR Principles n.d.
   <https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/15389/#B8>).
   -

      Climate intervention data should be properly preserved in
      discipline-specific or generalist trusted repositories to ensure
compliance
      with FAIR principles, i.e., data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable,
      and Reusable.
      -

      Climate intervention outdoor scaling experiments should publicly
      reveal funding sources.
      -

      Information about the context in which the climate intervention data
      was generated should be made explicit when sharing data, including from
      indoor experiments and simulation models, so that relevant values and
      perspectives represented in the scientific process for
generating the data
      can be known and acknowledged.
      -

      Provide pre-registration for outdoor experiments and share negative
      results.
      4.

   *Scaling:* Ensuring that field experiments abide by local, regional, and
   international laws and regulations, and facilitating the creation of
   increased oversight and reporting requirements depending on the scale of
   proposed work.
   -

      All outdoor scaling experiments would abide by local, regional, and
      international governance laws and requirements.
      -

      All anticipated climate intervention experiments should address risk
      assessment requirements and review standards to be applied at various
      stages of potential testing or deployment.
      -

      All outdoor experiments or scaling will be covered by an independent
      review board (to be determined) before deployment.
      5.

   *Governance and monitoring:* Abiding by guidance for planning,
   coordination, and registering of field experiments; and ensuring validated
   monitoring, reporting and verification procedures are in place.
   -

      Researchers and project sponsors should apply an incremental,
      proportional, step- by-step approach to the design of outdoor experiments
      that employ leading scientific methods and that anticipate adverse im-
      pacts and to include plans for monitoring for potential adverse
impacts in
      pre- and post-outdoor trials.
      -

      Researchers and project sponsors should identify the appropriate
      local or regional or international governing bodies for its work
in advance
      of outdoor scaling.
      -

      Mechanisms should be established to register climate intervention
      experiments in advance of outdoor trials and to monitor outdoor
experiments
      where there is not voluntary registration.
      -

      Researchers, project sponsors, and their home institutions share the
      responsibility to ensure that outdoor experiments, pilot stage scaling or
      implementation trials meet the Ethical Framework requirements as outlined
      either in these modules, the Asilomar Principles, the Oxford
Principles or
      the Tollgate principles, plus any established local regional, national or
      international requirements, including institutional review
boards, prior to
      deployment.

These five general ethical framework principles for climate intervention
research, as facilitated by AGU, are still receiving public comments as of
this writing and are subject to additional modifications and
clarifications. Global outreach and engagement on these principles remain
in progress across various global stakeholder groups, including in United
Nations climate conferences. This important work is in its infancy. Ongoing
global engagement and education around climate intervention research and
the related ethical issues are anticipated over the next decade.
Conclusion

Climate geoengineering research represents a complex and interdisciplinary
field that offers potential solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate
change. However, significant challenges and uncertainties remain, including
technical feasibility, governance, and ethical considerations. Continued
research and international collaboration are essential to better understand
the risks and benefits of climate geoengineering and to develop responsible
approaches to addressing the climate crisis.

The economic implications of climate geoengineering are multifaceted. While
geoengineering interventions may offer cost-effective solutions to mitigate
the impacts of climate change, they also entail significant financial risks
and uncertainties. Moreover, the potential commodification of
geoengineering technologies raises concerns about equity and access,
particularly for developing countries that may lack the resources to
participate in or benefit from these interventions.

Potential geoengineering interventions also raise fundamental questions
about humanity’s relationship with nature and the ethical boundaries of
technological manipulation of the environment. Some critics argue that
geoengineering represents a hubristic attempt to control and engineer the
Earth’s natural systems, which could have unforeseen consequences and
undermine the intrinsic value of biodiversity and ecosystems. Cultural and
ethical values play a crucial role in shaping societal attitudes towards
geoengineering research and deployment.

The acceptance of climate geoengineering interventions among the general
public and stakeholders is influenced by various factors, including
perceived effectiveness, trust in governance institutions, and cultural
attitudes towards technology and risk. Public perceptions of geoengineering
may vary widely, ranging from skepticism and mistrust to cautious optimism.
Understanding and addressing public concerns and values are essential for
achieving social acceptance and legitimacy for geoengineering research and
deployment efforts. The role and views of faith-based and religious
communities are important in these ongoing discussions, and AGU has helped
facilitate this ongoing engagement through participation in conferences
organized by the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (
https://www.iras.org/), as well as others.

AGU has contributed proposed ethical principles through a facilitated
process the authors believe will benefit researchers, policymakers, and the
general public. The aforementioned factors coupled with the urgency of the
climate crisis suggest more research and public engagement are needed. AGU
envisions its facilitated ethical principles for climate intervention
research, experimentation, and potential scaling as a living document to be
updated as technology, policy, and societal needs evolve around climate
change-related issues.

*Source: Zygon*

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