Global perspectives on solar geoengineering: A novel framework for analyzing research in pursuit of effective, inclusive, and just governance

Abstract

We present a novel analytical framework to evaluate the ethical, political, and justice implications of research on perceptions of emerging technologies. Using the literature on perspectives on solar geoengineering (SG) as an object of study, we develop a framework that interrogates the research process itself. Our framework interrogates whose perceptions are being studied, by whom, using what methods, following which lines of inquiry, and crucially, for what purposes. We do this through the case of SG, a controversial emerging climate intervention technology with potential global social and environmental impacts. We find that SG perspectives research raises important political and justice concerns related to whose perspectives are being studied and for what purposes. We show that SG perspectives research centers the perspectives from the Global North, underrepresents youth perspectives, and that some research aims to increase public support for SG. Ours is the first study to aggregate and quantify this rich empirical data to enable us to visualize these inequities. We also find that investigations of support for SG dominate the literature at the neglect of other important lines of inquiry, such as how cross-cultural perspectives on public engagement and capacity building can inform efforts to institutionalize the inclusion of youth and the Global South in SG discussions. We further find widespread motivation to inform decision-making but without clear direction about how best to do so. We chart a pathway for future perspectives research on SG and broader climate interventions, centered around four recommendations that seek to ameliorate some of these limitations and enhance the potential for perspectives research to enable more effective, inclusive, and just solar geoengineering governance.