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The Great Debate on Climate Engineering: Mark Lawrence speaks at General Assembly 2014 of European Geosciences Union
“Research on climate engineering techniques must always be conscious of its associated societal issues”, was one of the key messages Mark Lawrence conveyed during the Great Debate of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) on May 1, 2014. Speaking to an audience of over 500 scientists, he highlighted the need to differentiate between the broad range of approaches that are currently being subsumed under the umbrella term climate engineering. Yet, these approaches operate on vastly different spatial and temporal scale, and come with huge differences in the uncertainties, risks, and costs associated with them. Also, the level of understanding regarding these factors varies from technique to technique, as does the individual techniques' operational readiness.
Prof. Lawrence noted that “even though it might be possible within a decade to develop and implement the capacity to modify Earth's radiation budget, it would take decades to be able to do so in a knowledgeable and justified manner.” Specifically the need for understanding the ethical implications and the challenges of international governance remain substantial.
The European Geosciences Union is a professional association of over 15,000 scientists from Earth, planetary and space science, headquartered in Munich. The Great Debates are a key element of its annual General Assembly, which brings together thousands of scientists from around the world. Other panelists included Ken Caldeira (University of Stanford), Andreas Oschlies (GEOMAR), Paul Quinn (Newcastle University), and Krishna Kumar Kanikicharla (University of Colorado at Boulder).
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