SGRP Lunch Talk: Is Politically Feasible and Morally Responsible Geoengineering Possible?
Public and private research on solar geoengineering is on the rise. Nearly all proposals for large-scale research or deployment envision that, given the scale and scope of interventions like stratospheric aerosol injection, some level of international cooperation or coordination is necessary for both success and moral license. Geoengineering more broadly faces the challenge by many opponents that even research, particularly large-scale outdoor experiments, risk “mitigation deterrence” — a moral hazard slowing the commitment to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gases both by particular countries and under accepted international regimes. Along with the rise in research on geoengineering, there has been a flurry of proposed resolutions and well-organized campaigns in multilateral forums to limit all deployment and some research on solar geoengineering, most prominently advocacy for a global Non-Use Agreement. In this talk, Andrew Light will explore the current landscape of international debates on climate engineering and then try to address the question of whether it is feasible to get sufficient international coordination to attempt some form of climate engineering, and the conditions that would be necessary for some measure of international acceptance of it, as well as the broader problem of how to address the ethical, even existential, challenges to large-scale research or deployment.
Thu, Apr 2, 2026
