Strategic dimensions of solar geoengineering: economic theory and experiments

[Geoengineering News]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214804324001083

Authors 

Daniel Heyen, Alessandro Tavoni

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2024.102271

19 July 2024

Highlights

•Solar Geoengineering could reduce global temperatures fast and at low direct cost

•An important concern is the strategic implications of solar geoengineering

•We review theoretical and experimental contributions on strategic issues of solar geoengineering

•We outline fruitful topics for future economic research

Abstract

Solar geoengineering denotes a set of technologies that would enable a fast and relatively cheap global temperature reduction. Besides potential physical side-effects, a major concern is the strategic dimension: Who is going to use solar geoengineering and how would it affect others? How does the presence of solar geoengineering change the strategic incentives surrounding other climate policy instruments such as mitigation? We review the existing theoretical and experimental contributions to those questions and outline promising lines of future economic research.

Source: ScienceDirect