by James Temple
‘A deep need’
A moratorium on deploying solar geoengineering is appropriate at this stage because we simply don’t know enough about it to move forward on large scales, says Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School who has closely studied geoengineering issues. But he stresses that that’s also why it’s crucial to allow for research—to enable scientists to attempt to fill in those unknowns.The consequences of the current controversy may not be all bad for the field.
Some hope the Make Sunsets incident and its aftermath will prompt more nations to establish clear rules guiding research efforts, or spur the development of international oversight agreements, for which there is a “deep need,” Talati says.
Quoted in: “What Mexico’s planned geoengineering restrictions mean for the future of the field” by James Temple, MIT Technology Review (20 January 2023).