Geoengineering governance

This page brings together work on the governance and regulation of solar geoengineering research and deployment.

The challenges of governing geoengineering were one theme in my PhD research. More recently, in the ISPACE project we have been considering the implications of geopolitics for geoengineering development and governance.

In 2021 I collaborated with fellow CSSN scholars Jennie Stephens, Kevin Surprise and Prakash Kashwan in assessing the proposals for solar geoengineering research advocated by the US National Academies  ('Reflecting Sunlight'), generating a short Letter in Science, and a longer perspective article in Environmental Politics. 

In 2022 I became one of the 'First Signatories' to an academic call for a 'Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering'

Publications

The Danger of Mainstreaming Solar Geoengineering: A Critique of the National Academies Report. J. Stephens, P. Kashwan, D. McLaren & K. Surprise (2021). Environmental Politics. 

Letter: The risks of solar geoengineering research. J. Stephens, P. Kashwan, D. McLaren and K. Surprise (2021). Science 372.

The Politics and Governance of Research into Solar Geoengineering, Duncan McLaren and Olaf Corry, WIRES Climate Change, 2021.

CSSN Position Paper 2021:2 Solar Geoengineering Research in the United States: Key Critical Questions. P. Kashwan, D. McLaren, J. Stephens, K. Surprise, CSSN.