2024 SRM Social Science Workshop: Cooperative vs. Noncooperative Climate Interventions

Jointly hosted by RFF and the Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program, this workshop showcased some of the latest social science research related to solar radiation modification (SRM). This year, a common theme running throughout the workshop was the likely differences between collaborative management of potential SRM (maximizing its potential benefits while minimizing its risks) within a future climate change policy portfolio, versus more non-cooperative, piecemeal, "messy" SRM developments.

Thursday, September 19

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 – 12:15 pm: Non-cooperative SRM as a Potential Reality | Moderated by Tyler Felgenhauer

• “Design and simulation of unilateral climate intervention scenarios,” Patrick W. Keys, Colorado State University | Slides | Paper (1) | Paper (2)
• “Planetary Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering: Who Will Decide?” Joshua Horton, Harvard University | Slides | Paper
• “The challenge of distinguishing levels of cooperation, geographical extent, and planned deployments of SRM in scenarios,” Vanessa Schweizer, University of Waterloo | Slides
• “A high latitude/low altitude early SAI deployment scenario,” Lauren Wheeler, Sandia National Laboratories (Slides | Paper) and Wake Smith, Yale School of the Environment (Slides | Paper)

12:15 – 1:15 pm: Lunch

1:15 – 2:45 pm: Governance, Regulatory, Legal, and Policy Proposals | Moderated by Kristin Hayes

• “Monitoring for SRM: Goals, Needs, and Governance,” Mark Borsuk, Duke University | Slides | Paper
• “Polycentrism as a Pathway to Solar Geoengineering Governance,” Burgess Langshaw Power, University of Waterloo | Slides | Paper
• “Vertical legal borrowing as a pathway from unilateral to international SRM governance,” Manon Simon, University of Tasmania | Slides

2:45 – 3:15 pm: Coffee Break

3:15 – 4:45 pm: Stakeholder Engagement: Global SRM Research and Initiatives | Moderated by Andy Parker, The Degrees Initiative

• “Solar Radiation Modification: Knowledge gaps for decision-making in Latin America and The Caribbean,” Maria Ines Carabajal, University of Buenos Aires | Slides
• “An integrated climate-economy stakeholder-based model for assessing SRM future implications in Brazil, India and South Africa,” Mauricio Uriona Maldonado, Federal University of Santa Catarina | Slides | Paper
• “Exploring Regionally Cooperative Socio-Political Dimensions of SRM Impacts on Malaria for Health Policy Makers in South Asia via Dashboard Development,” Hassaan Sipra, The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering | Slides | Paper | Paper Supplementary Material
• “Preparing the African voice for SRM governance discussions over the coming decade?” Chris Lennard, University of Cape Town | Slides
• “Meeting policymakers where they’re at: listening and learning for cooperative development of SRM governance,” Matthias Honegger, International Center for Future Generations | Paper

4:45 – 5:00 pm: Day 1 Wrap Up

Friday, September 20

8:30 – 9:00 am: Breakfast and registration

9:00 – 10:30 am: Public Opinion, Perceptions, and Attitudes Globally | Moderated by Shuchi Talati

• “Scenarios and public attitudes towards solar radiation modification: Online survey in four Asia-Pacific countries,” Masahiro (Masa) Sugiyama, The University of Tokyo | Slides | Paper
• “Public Perceptions and Support of Climate Intervention Technologies across the Global North and Global South,” Chad M. Baum, Aarhus University | Slides | Paper (1) | Paper (2)
• “Perspectives of traditional Brazilian environmental knowledge holders over traditional and technoscientific forms of intentional alteration of the atmosphere,” Renzo Romano Taddei, Federal University of Sao Paulo | Slides | Paper

10:30 – 11:00 am: Coffee Break

11:00 am – 12:30 pm: Making Decisions on Tradeoffs | Moderated by Massimo Tavoni

• “Climate-economy-risk management model of stratospheric solar geoengineering options,” Kate Ricke, University of California San Diego
• “Trade-offs across climate policy portfolio mix and politically salient objectives: a multi-objective optimization approach,” Anthony Harding, Georgia Institute of Technology | Slides | Paper
• “Location, location, location: the role of injection latitude in optimal stratospheric aerosol deployment scenarios,” Pietro Andreoni, RFF CMCC European Institute for Economics and the Environment | Slides

12:30 – 2:00 pm: Concluding Lunch

One-on-one conversation with Phil Duffy, Spark Climate Solutions/former Climate Science Advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, with Joe Aldy