Geo-engineering, governance, and social-ecological systems: Critical issues and joint research needs
In: Ecology and Society. Resilience Alliance Publications: Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. ISSN 1708-3087; e-ISSN 1708-3087, more
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| Author keywords |
Earth stewardship, geo-engineering, global environmental governance, innovation, planetary boundaries, resilience thinking |
| Abstract |
The debate about the possibilities to engineer the Earth's climate has changed drastically in the last years. Suggestions of large-scale technological interventions to combat climate change that a decade ago would have been discarded as science fiction are slowly moving into the center of international climate change discussions, research, and politics. In this article, I elaborate three joint key challenges to geo-engineering research from a resilience perspective, with a special emphasis on governance issues. First, I discuss the need to understand geo-engineering proposals from a “planetary boundaries” perspective. Second, I elaborate why the notion of Earth stewardship and geo-engineering are not necessarily in conflict, but instead could be viewed as complementary approaches. Last, I discuss the critical need to explore an institutional setting that is strong enough to weed out geo-engineering proposals that carry considerable ecological risk, but still allow for novelty, fail-safe experimentation, and continuous learning. These issues are critical for our understanding of how to effectively govern global environmental risks, complex systems, and emerging technologies in the Anthropocene. |
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