Effective Communications is Key to Geoengineering Governance

This interview was conducted by Mirko Hohmann and Joel Sandhu for the the Global Governance Futures 2025 program which brings together young professionals to look ahead and recommend ways to address global challenges.

MH & JS: In light of successive failed attempts to tackle high carbon dioxide emissions at a global level, do you see geoengineering playing an increasingly important role in national responses to climate change?

RL: Successive failed attempts to tackle high CO2 emissions at a global level might contribute to an increasing interest in geoengineering options, but in my opinion geoengineering will still remain questionable as a favored means to address climate change compared to other community-based and/​or ecosystem-based adaptation solutions. The recent US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change has in a way set a good example for both developed and developing countries as a global effort against climate change while setting the tone for the coming 2015 Paris talks. According to Zou Ji, deputy director of China’s National Centre for Climate Change Strategy, ​“if China-US cooperation boosts multilateral global governance and ensures widespread participation and joint action, it will have a wide-reaching impact on the global low-carbon transition.” Nonetheless, since the pledge is not legally binding for both countries, we have yet to see to what extent the announcement will be implemented. And from my personal perception, adaptation will still be very much emphasized in terms of global climate change strategies, particularly in the developing countries, where greenhouse gas emissions are low while their people are being seriously impacted by climate change in the foreseeable future.

To read the full interview, please visit Global Policy online.