Proposals to develop solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering call into question the capacity of international law to govern innovative new technologies. Geoengineering is ‘the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climate system, in order to moderate global warming'. Solar radiation management proposals are intended to offset global temperatures rises resulting from climate change by reflecting a small percentage of incoming solar radiation (sunlight). The most prominent proposal, stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), is to deposit aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect or scatter light away from the Earth, mimicking the cooling effect produced by large volcanic eruptions. Stratospheric aerosol injection is promising in that it could rapidly reduce global temperatures for a fraction of the cost of conventional mitigation strategies. However, SAI deployment is likely to have detrimental transboundary and global environmental side effects. It is therefore important that SAI is governed at an international level, but at present there are no international agreements that specifically address SAI research or deployment.

Item Type:	Research Book Chapter
Keywords:	geoengineering, international law, liability, no-harm rule, ultrahazardous activities, custom
Research Division:	Law and Legal Studies
Research Group:	Environmental and resources law
Research Field:	Environmental law
Objective Division:	Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards
Objective Group:	Understanding climate change
Objective Field:	Understanding climate change not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Brent, K (Dr Kerryn Brent)
ID Code:	127184
Year Published:	2018
Deposited By:	Law
Deposited On:	2018-07-16
Last Modified:	2018-12-07
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