Technological Interventions at a Crossroads: Governing Carbon Removal and Solar Radiation Modification in an Era of 1.5 °C Overshoot

[Geoengineering News]

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2026.2694961

Authors: Raymond Saner & Lichia Saner-Yiu

08 September 2026

Abstract 

The accelerating climate crisis has forced governments and international institutions to confront the growing likelihood that global warming has already exceeded 1.5 °C or will exceed it in the coming decade. Despite decades of multilateral commitments, emissions continue to rise due to behavioral inertia, economic lock-in, and fragmented governance regimes. This has prompted renewed interest in technological approaches to climate intervention, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), bioenergy with CCS (BECCS), direct air capture (DACCS), nature-based carbon removal, and solar radiation modification (SRM). Drawing on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s latest warnings, case studies, and global governance analysis, this article assesses the promise and peril of these emerging technologies. Engaging recent discussions in Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development on fossil fuel lock-in, climate overshoot, and geoengineering governance, this article also examines the political economy of climate intervention, including the influence of fossil fuel interests, the moral hazard risks associated with technological optimism, distributive justice implications between the Global North and South, and governance challenges emerging in a multipolar international order. It concludes by outlining governance scenarios and arguing for coordinated cross-regime cooperation across the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the wider United Nations (UN) system.

Source: Taylor & Francis