With stalling climate negotiations, the direct manipulation of the global climate receives increasing attention. Called “geoengineering or “climate engineering”, such measures were scrutinized by various studies, including by the Royal Society. In particular, the unintended consequences of such manipulation raised criticism from many scholars. On 10-11 November 2011, an international conference at the Climate Campus Hamburg discussed in depth the potential security risks of climate engineering (CE).



CE can be divided into two categories: First, the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and second, the management of solar radiation. The first category includes, among others, iron fertilization of algae to increase their carbon uptake. The second category includes the injection of aerosols in the atmosphere to block sunlight, thus cooling the earth. The different methods greatly vary in effectiveness, cost and time span. In case of carbon dioxide removal, it may take decades before any results – that is, reversal of climate change – are recognizable due to the inertia of the climate system. Artificial cooling, however, could be achieved in just a few years and also relatively cheaply, as some proponents say.



Conference participants agreed that possible side effects are far reaching. According to Ulrike Niemeier from the Max Planck Institute, changing solar radiation could alter precipitation patterns and lead to unequal warming and cooling across the globe. The potential regional security risks are then similar to those of climate change. Moreover, governance questions emerge: A single state or small group of states could implement CE. In such a case, political tensions are likely to emerge as long as there is no adequate international regime. This includes research on CE, as field experiments can already have problematic effects.



“Climate control” therefore adds security risks, without necessarily preventing those risks already considered a hazard of climate change. More research is necessary on these and other risks before reaching a decision on climate engineering. As such research is controversial, the conference attendees’ emphasized that is must be internationally, independently, and transparently conducted. (Achim Maas)



For more information on the conference, please see http://clisec.zmaw.de/Geoengineering-the-Climate-An-Issue-for-Peace-and.1877.0.html



The report “Geoengineering the Climate” by the Royal Society is available here.



The report “Solar Radiation Management: The Governance of Research” is available here.

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, 6/2011