Climate Engineering
Even courageous climate polices may run the risk that catastrophic climate change takes place, although expected to happen with a low probability. If this risk increases “Climate Engineering” may become an option of last resort. Research on the risks and opportunities of “Climate Engineering” should help to be prepared for such an event. Climate engineering methods include both carbon dioxide removal techniques which remove CO2 from the atmosphere (including e.g. direct capture of CO2 from the air, iron fertilization of the ocean) and solar radiation management techniques that reflect a fraction of the sun’s light and heat back into space (e.g. marine cloud reflectivity, shields or deflectors in space). Improving our understanding regarding effectiveness and environmental risks of different climate engineering methods requires close interaction among experts from climate physics, biology, oceanography, economics, ethics and law. Developing policies to regulate the use of climate engineering methods is the particular task of experts from law, ethics and economics. The symposium’s session will bring together eminent speakers from these fields to an interdisciplinary platform for exchanging the latest results and developing novel concepts and ideas.

Plenary talks by Catherine Redgwell (London, UK), Tim Kruger (Oxford, UK) and Sjak Smulders (Tilburg, The Netherlands)

Programme