Solar Geoengineering and the Montreal Protocol
Geoeng Info
Overview
This study analyses the Montreal Protocol as a potential instrument and forum for the global governance of solar radiation management (SRM) research. It creates an analytical framework to examine the objectives, institutional capacity, and jurisdiction of the Montreal Protocol to determine the extent to which it can govern SRM research. The study also puts forth the latest science on the potential impacts of SRM and studies previous attempts at geoengineering governance under different international fora. It recommends certain principles of governance and international law that must underline any proposed framework. Further, it introduces the possibility of an overarching global institution for the complete governance of geoengineering.
Key Highlights
- The Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) terms SRM as a ‘new threat’ and singles out Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) technology for its side effects on the ozone layer.
- The cross-border nature of the potential impacts of SRM research, development, or deployment necessitates international governance, which institutionalises informed
decision-making. - Proposals for outdoor SRM research are gaining momentum, and the time is ripe to institutionalise an appropriate governance framework to avoid going down the slippery
slope of deployment. - The link that draws SRM research under the Montreal Protocol’s governance umbrella is its potential impact on the ozone layer.
- Two technical panels under the Montreal Protocol have specifically undertaken the scientific analysis of only those geoengineering techniques that impact the ozone layer.
- Prevention must be prioritised over cure as the science of causal attribution is especially complicated in the case of solar geoengineering techniques.
- The overlapping applicability of different international conventions is a real possibility given the largely unascertained impacts of SRM.