As part of SilverLining’s International Policy Program, C2ES and SilverLining published a paper on considerations for climate intervention by climate law experts 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. Both serve as advisors to SilverLining.

SOLAR CLIMATE INTERVENTION: OPTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND DECISION-MAKING

July 13, 2020

Society’s response to climate change has been, and may continue to be, inadequate to ensure a safe global climate. As the near-term risks and impacts of climate change grow, so does the need for international cooperation and decision-making for climate interventions. Scientific assessments suggest that different forms of solar climate intervention (SCI⁠)—increasing the reflection of sunlight from the atmosphere—may have the potential to reduce warming rapidly, but we do not yet understand their potential impacts and risks. It is a challenging area for governance and the authors propose two key considerations for international decision-making: 

• It must consider "the two safeties": the safety of a warming climate and the safety of using SCI, should it be warranted. 

• It should be weighed by the international community through a coordinated approach that is both cooperative and based in science.

In a review of existing international science and policy forums, they find that no forum is ideally suited to perform both of the two required functions: scientific assessment and decision-making. However, there are a number of options that could provide a path forward for strong international governance. Access the paper below and commentary by SilverLining’s Executive Director Kelly Wanser and C2ES’s President Elliott Diringer here.