Balancing Sky-High Promises and Unknown Risks : Translations of Unwanted Futures in Risk Assessments of Solar Radiation Modification—Thesis

[Geoengineering News]

https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/de039b39-4b25-4cc6-a80f-5238f78eb933

Author

Wallgren, Amos

2024

Abstract

Institutional interest in solar geoengineering, or solar radiation modification (SRM), is rising as the projections of climate change grow more severe and global mitigation efforts continue to face challenges. Historically, solar geoengineering has been met with considerable controversy and skepticism. Among concerned scientists and in the environment movement SRM has widely been seen as a taboo area for research and governance. However, in recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in stance among influential institutions and organizations. We now witness increased institutional engagement and research on solar geoengineering and its potential applications in what is often referred to as a risk versus risk framing. In this approach the risks and benefits of SRM are considered in relation to viable climate change scenarios without SRM. However, integrating various social, ethical, and political concerns into risk versus risk assessments for SRM is a complex process. It raises questions about how a risk versus risk framing affects the emerging governance landscape of SRM research, as well as political implications. In this thesis, I examine expert advice and technology assessment documents on SRM, focusing on the US Congressionally Mandated Research Plan and Initial Research Governance Framework Related to Solar Radiation Modification (OSTP, 2023). In analyzing the risk versus risk framing of SRM, I draw primarily upon insights from Critical Security Studies and the analytical framework presented in the book Translations of Security (Berling et al., 2022). My findings suggest that crucial sociopolitical concerns about SRM have only to limited degree been incorporated into the OSTP report, and that this has resulted in a comparatively weak integration of global justice concerns into the initial US national research governance framework related to SRM.

Source: University of Helsinki