GEOENGINEERING THE CLIMATE? What benefits? What impacts?

¿Cambiar el clima mediante la geoingeniería?: ¿Qué beneficios? ¿Qué impactos?

Transformer le climat par la géoingénierie: Quels avantages? Quels impacts?

Introduction

As climate change impacts become more apparent and global negotiations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are prolonged, have we adequately considered actions that complement carbon emission reductions, such as climate engineering or geoengineering? Geoengineering refers to deliberate large-scale interventions in the Earth’s climate system in order to moderate global warming. Do potential gains from using geoengineering to slow or contain climate change impacts outweigh possible negative impacts on people and biodiversity?

Indigenous peoples and local communities (ILCs) call for urgent action to stem the global climate change crisis, but they have also expressed concern about growing attention to ‘solutions’ such as geoengineering. The Anchorage Declaration, from the 2009 Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change, states:

We challenge States to abandon false solutions to climate change that negatively impact Indigenous Peoples’ rights, lands, air, oceans, forests, territories and waters. These include nuclear energy, large-scale dams, geo-engineering techniques, “clean coal”, agro-fuels, plantations, and market based mechanisms such as carbon trading, the Clean Development Mechanism, and forest offsets.

On the other hand, at a 2010 UNESCO expert meeting on geoengineering, small island representatives like Liz Thompson, the former Minister of Energy & Environment of Barbados, engaged directly with the issue by asking whether we should be discussing mitigation vs geoengineering or rather mitigation plus geoengineering. Raising the issue of participation of Small Island Developing States in this debate, she also asked that more information on geoengineering be made available.

In a recent piece for the New York Times called “Geo-engineering can help save the planet”, ecologist Thomas Lovejoy says: “The power of ecosystem restoration to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide and avoid disruptive climate change is great but insufficient. We also need to use non-biological means to reduce atmospheric carbon…It is in our own self-interest to manage ourselves, the planet and its climate system in an integrated fashion. We can do so, and there are abundant economic possibilities in doing so, but the window of opportunity is closing rapidly.”

At the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), governments adopted a decision to

Compile and synthesize available scientific information, and views and experiences of indigenous and local communities and other stakeholders, on the possible impacts of geo engineering techniques on biodiversity and associated social, economic and cultural considerations, and options on definitions and understandings of climate-related geo-engineering relevant to the Convention on Biological Diversity. (COP 10, Decision X/33, Para 9(l))

In collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Climate Frontlines Forum is launching a discussion on geoengineering techniques and their potential impacts in order to understand the views and experiences of indigenous and local communities and other stakeholders. These discussions also provide an opportunity to consider additional issues, such as the governance of geoengineering research.

We propose a series of briefs on the following topics:

  • Geoengineering in brief
  • Solar geoengineering - some examples and impacts
  • Carbon geoengineering - some examples and impacts
  • Community participation and inclusion in impact assessments, and the potential role of the Akwe Kon Voluntary guidelines for the conduct of cultural, environmental and social impact assessments

Participants may also propose other issues to be considered in this discussion by writing to peoples@climatefrontlines.org.

Everyone is invited to participate in the discussions. If you are writing as a member of an indigenous or local community, let us know! Your input will be reflected in the CBD consultation process.

Your analyses and comments will be collated and a first summary of the discussions will be made available by 16 February 2012. A document of main messages that arise from these discussions will provide input to the 16th meeting of the Scientific Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-16) under the agenda item on biodiversity and climate change.

You can respond by leaving comments here, by emailing comments to peoples@climatefrontlines.org or by contributing to our Facebook group. To read on, go to the next section or sign up to our Facebook Group “Engineering the Climate? What benefits? What impacts?”

Table of Contents

Geoengineering in brief ›

Local knowledge and a planet under pressure

Indigenous peoples and many local communities are on the frontlines of climate change but they are not passive victims. They are holders of sophisticated and diverse knowledge sets that need to be actively considered by scientists and policy-makers in order for local adaptation to succeed. Taking into consideration local and indigenous knowledge complements and strengthens the use scientific modeling and provides for appropriate, effective environmental policy and decision-making. This was the key message at Indigenous knowledge and sustainable futures, a panel held during the March 2012 international conference Planet Under Pressure. Bringing together a small but diverse set of case studies from pastoralists in Chad, a drought-stricken Navajo Nation, remote islands of Vanuatu and the high mountains of Nepal, the panel co-convened by UNESCO and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity highlighted how GIS technologies could be used to reinforce traditional knowledge and how local perspectives complements and contributes to scientific assessment of impacts of drought and disaster.

In introducing the panel discussion, session chair Hans Thulstrup reiterated the significance of such collaboration, stressing that local and indigenous knowledge offers detailed insights into local environmental change and complements broader-scale scientific research with local precision and nuance. He noted that without understanding and including local and indigenous community perspectives, important knowledge is excluded from decision-making processes to the detriment of both the communities themselves and to global thinking and research on environmental change.

To a lively and interactive audience, panelists Lila Nath Sharma, Margaret Redsteer, Carlos Mondragón and Jennifer Rubis (who presented Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim's work on Mbororo pastoralists) discussed and debated key issues surrounding indigenous knowledge including its ability to absorb the new environmental uncertainties, how to ensure its continuity and how it could be strengthened by outside knowledge and technologies.

Similar calls for the inclusion of local and indigenous perspectives could be found throughout the conference. At least ten case-studies presented at various panels throughout the four day conference emphasized the need to ensure that policy recommendations are rooted in participatory and locally-oriented priorities. The posters featuring research on local knowledge and climate change included one on Himalayan Climate Change, Alpine Vegetation and Tibetan Traditional Knowledge by Jan Salick. The plenary sessions were no less supportive. Illuminaries including Nobel prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom emphasized that sustainable development was possible when decision-making over common natural goods was centred at the local level. Her emphasis on a 'polycentric' approach to environmental governance underlines the need for empowering local communities to manage their natural resources including water, forests and pastures. Likewise, Indian economist Bina Agawaral pointed to the role that women smallholder famers would need to play in achieving food security. The final conference declaration, released by co-chairs Lidia Brito of UNESCO and Mark Stafford Smith of CSIRO, spoke of the need to ensure that innovation 'be informed by diverse local needs and conditions.' It added that the linking of scientific research to policy-relevant interdisciplinary efforts needed to not only 'integrate across existing research programmes and disciplines' and local knowledge systems.

Chair Hans Thulstrup discusses the importance of indigenous knowledge to climate change adaptation

Lila Nath Sharma presents on Nepal pastoralist knowledge

Carlos Mondragon presents climate observations from Vanuatu island communities

Margaret Hiza Redsteer replies to questions on the Navajo Land-Use project

 

For more information on the panel Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Futures, please click here.

For more information on the presenters and their presentations please click here.

For more information on Planet Under Pressure, please go to: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net. For the conference notification on this session, please go to http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/pup_session.asp?19173.