The second paper in a series published by C2ES and SilverLining as part of SilverLining’s International Policy Program describes the role of research in effective international decision-making for climate intervention. The paper is authored by climate law experts, and SilverLining Advisors, Susan Biniaz, who previously served as lead climate attorney for the U.S. State Department and currently serves as a senior fellow for Climate Change at the U.N. Foundation, and Daniel Bodansky, Regents' Professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and author of International Climate Change Law.

[PAPER] Climate Intervention: The Case for Research

October 26, 2020

To make effective decisions in the context of dangerous climate warming, we need to better understand near-term catastrophic risks, such as possible abrupt changes in natural systems, and  rapid "climate interventions" with the potential to substantially reduce warming within a decade or less, such as increasing the reflection of sunlight from the atmosphere, or “solar climate intervention” (SCI)

A previous paper by international climate law experts Sue Biniaz and Dan Bodansky examined the ability of existing international bodies to evaluate and govern SCI. They found that any decision-making regarding SCI would require a scientifically rigorous assessment of “two safeties,” the safety of the global climate and the safety of possible interventions to reduce or arrest warming.

In their new paper published by C2ES and SilverLining, Biniaz and Bodansky discuss the nature of the research required to support this science-based decision-making and address common objections to undertaking it.

They suggest that In order to assess and make science-based decisions about possible climate interventions, governments, stakeholders, and the public need the best possible information about:

• The risks of abrupt changes.

• The effectiveness, feasibility, and safety of potential interventions.

• The comparative risks and benefits of intervention versus no intervention and of different types of interventions. 

The authors conclude that research will promote global cooperation by providing necessary information for national and international bodies to make science-based assessments and decisions.

Read more in the paper and one-pager linked below and read a commentary by SilverLining’s Kelly Wanser and C2ES’s Elliot Diringer here.