Risk and Rewards: Setting Ethical Standards for Climate Intervention

By Dr. Lisa Graumlich (Palaeoclimatologist and President of the American Geophysical Union) 

As world leaders wrestle with the escalating impacts of the climate crisis, climate intervention—often called geoengineering—has shifted to a major topic of global discussion.   

As a palaeoclimatologist, I have spent my career studying how nature, people, and climate change connect. I have watched as the research describing climate change has become crystal clear while scientists’ warnings have gone unanswered.   

Now, as president of the world’s largest Earth and space science association (American Geophysical Union), it is my turn to offer a word of caution.   

For decades, we have called for action, for urgency, and for global collaboration. Today, looking at this new and risky frontier of climate intervention, we are calling for ethics: We need the international community to come together on functional ethical guidelines for climate intervention research. And we need those guidelines to be informed by a commitment to environmental justice.   

In December, I joined twenty-seven thousand Earth and space scientists in San Francisco for our association’s annual meeting, AGU23.   

At AGU23, I joined a press conference on Marine Carbon Removal Research with panellists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and geoengineering start-up Ebb Carbon.   

When I raised ethics, I was heartened to witness their appetite for engagement, including climate justice. One panellist even echoed my sentiments: We need guidelines now.  

Making environmental justice top of mind is only as effective as how you define it and practice it. There are many dimensions to justice.  And these connect to central needs that should be considered and protected.  

How?  

• Rigorous multidisciplinary research is needed before deployment. Countless unknowns remain about the effectiveness, outcomes, benefits, and risks of geoengineering.  
• The development of measuring, reporting, and verification capabilities is also needed. These actions will help avoid unintended consequences for potential ocean-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR).  
• And an alignment and uniformity of ocean regulations is needed. The current patchwork of laws on the books do not directly apply to ocean CDR, which leaves this whole area of environmental justice vulnerable.  

But really, without a vetted and implementable set of policies we are left vulnerable on so many fronts.  

Only through broad outreach, continuous dialogue, and active collaboration, within and outside the sciences, can we create a viable framework. This includes the following areas:  

• A focus and priority on non-scientific residential local engagement.  
• Open and transparent communication and information.  
• Techniques robustly established, verifying actual carbon removal.  
• A requirement for multidisciplinary research.  
• A rigorous, standardized approach to monitoring, reporting, and verification.  

As countries struggle to meet the goals set in the Paris Agreement, it is obvious that we are falling woefully short of curtailing greenhouse gas emissions.  

Sadly, carbon mitigation is no longer sufficient. It has become increasingly likely that global temperatures will surpass the critical 1.5°C threshold, necessitating a multifaceted approach. 2023 was not only the hottest year on record but also the biggest jump in temperature. Organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have identified the need for CDR measures, sparking interest in a spectrum of climate intervention techniques.  

But here is the problem: While interventions may mitigate the dire effects of climate change, most of these approaches are untested with unknown consequences.   

Speed is also a problem. There is no denying that climate intervention has moved past the theoretical stage. The science is maturing quickly: private and public organizations are already engaged in this research, both inside and outside of the lab.   

We must be peopled with partners and powered by partnership.  

Partners are key to information and learning. Research into climate intervention is absolutely vital to understanding its efficiency and risks, but this must be done in the context of an ethical framework that guides responsible decisions at all levels — from that of an individual scientist to large intergovernmental agreements.   

Starting with a whitepaper in 2022, AGU has taken the lead in developing an Ethical Framework for Climate Intervention Research, Experimentation and Deployment. While mitigation and adaptation remain our top priority for addressing the climate crisis, growing interest and action on climate intervention has drawn us into this conversation.   

The principles outlined within this framework — compliance with policies, community engagement, considerations for justice, transparent data sharing — serve as a bedrock for ethical practices. They embody a collective commitment to a measured, inclusive, and ethically sound approach to climate intervention research.  

The road ahead is rife with complexities and uncertainties. Yet, with a well-crafted Ethical Framework and a collective commitment to responsible action, the scientific community can chart a course that balances innovation with ethical imperatives.  

AGU’s proposal is just the start. The stage is set for COP29, where we will roll out the next iteration of the Ethical Framework, which will provide much-needed guiding principles to protect people and our planet. In the meantime, we invite global input, including in communities that will be most affected.   

Professor Lisa Graumlich is the 2023-2024 AGU President. Graumlich is a professor in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and Dean Emerita of the College of the Environment at the University of Washington.  She has devoted her career to studying the causes and impacts of climate change, with a special focus on using palaeoecological records such as tree rings to understand the magnitude of human impacts. Graumlich is passionate about science communication and speaks frequently on climate impacts and adaptation. She has testified on long-term climate variability before the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.   

For more information on AGU go to: www.agu.org and to learn more about the Ethical Framework: www.agu.org/Learn-About-AGU/About-AGU/Ethics/Ethical-Framework-for-Climate-Intervention