2025 RFF and Harvard SRM Social Science Research Workshop: Governance in a Fractured World
This research workshop, cohosted by Resources for the Future and Harvard University, will explore recent and ongoing research on solar radiation modification.
Event Details
RFF's Solar Geoengineering Research Project and the Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program seek to improve our understanding of the risks, potential benefits, and other uncertain implications of solar radiation modification (SRM) as one approach among others to help address climate change risks.
On September 4–5, we are hosting this year's RFF and Harvard SRM Social Science Research Workshop, with a broad theme of "Governance in a Fractured World." This invitation-only event will take place at the RFF offices in Washington, DC.
This will be a research-oriented workshop on key social science questions related to SRM, designed to promote discussions and feedback on research.
If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact Tyler Felgenhauer ([email protected]) or Kristin Hayes ([email protected]). Stay tuned for the agenda and more information.
Agenda
Thursday, September 4
9:30 – 10:00 am: Breakfast and Registration
10:00 – 10:15 am: Welcome and Introduction
- Billy Pizer, Resources for the Future
- Joe Aldy, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
10:15 am – 11:45 am: What is the potential for strategic cooperation? | Moderated by Tony Harding, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Size and characteristics of effective geoengineering coalitions (Pietro Andreoni, European Institute on Economics and the Environment)
- Can climate clubs speed up the development of next-generation climate risk-reduction technologies? (Kevin R. Wagner, Northwestern University)
- Solar radiation modification amidst the changing dynamics of South Asian transboundary waters: can it overcome the region’s geopolitics? (Imran Saqib Khalid, Oxford Policy Management-Pakistan )
11:45 am – 12:30 pm: Policymaker Perspective on Solar Geoengineering: A Conversation with Andrew Light | Moderated by Joe Aldy, Harvard Kennedy School
12:30 – 1:15 pm: Lunch
1:15 – 3:15 pm: SRM futures and geopolitical realities | Moderated by Josh Horton, University of Chicago/Climate Contingency Hub
- Using strategic foresight to bridge the SRM science-diplomacy divide: The low-down on a high stakes future (Cynthia Scharf, Centre for Future Generations and Trish Lavery, Australian National University)
- Why a global moratorium on solar geoengineering deployment should get a chilly reception (Daniel Bodansky, Arizona State University) and Sue Biniaz, Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs)
- Who may geoengineer: delegation of SRM research and deployment in times of geopolitical rivalry and global inequality (Patrick Taylor Smith, Principia Advisory)
- The Trojan horse of solar radiation modification (William Morrissey, Independent)
3:15 – 3:45 pm: Coffee Break
3:45 – 5:15 pm: Public perception in the Global South | Moderated by Shuchi Talati, The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering
- Framing solar radiation modification: media, expertise, and public perceptions of SRM in Latin America and the Caribbean (María Inés Carabajal, National Scientific and Research Council,
University of Buenos Aires) - Perceptions, governance, and health interlinkages of SRM and climate change in Pakistan—and toward mapping fractured South Asia (Hassaan Sipra, The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering)
- Stakeholder perceptions about SRM in the Global South: reporting initial findings from Brazil and South Africa (Rhythm Singh, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee)
5:15 – 5:30 pm: Day 1 Wrap Up
Friday, September 5
8:30 – 9:00 am: Breakfast and registration
9:00 – 10:30 am: SRM in the Arctic – social science questions | Moderated by Jonathan Wiener, Duke University
- Governing SRM in a rapidly changing Arctic: building and advancing a collaborative research agenda (Jennifer Spence, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School)
- Governance of polar solar geoengineering (Wake Smith, Yale School of the Environment)
- Perspectives of decision-makers and influencers on research into climate intervention and ecosystem repair in the Arctic (Bridget Shayka, Ocean Visions)
10:30 – 11:00 am: Coffee Break
11:00 am – 1:00 pm: Public perception and actors in the Global North | Moderated by Massimo Tavoni, European Institute on Economics and the Environment
- Public concerns about solar geoengineering research in the United States (Holly Buck, University at Buffalo and Prerna Shah, University of Georgia)
- Understanding public and expert perspectives on solar radiation modification (David McEvoy, Appalachian State University)
- Expert, stakeholder, and rightsholder perspectives into responsible SRM research governance – results from interviews (Ilona Mettiäinen, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland)
- Startups and solar geoengineering (Britta Clark, Harvard University)
1:00 – 2:15 pm: Concluding Lunch and Funders' Panel | Moderated by Billy Pizer, RFF
- Greg De Temmerman, Quadrature Climate Foundation
- Michael Farrar, Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), UK Government
- Andrew Verhalen, LAD Climate Fund
