The governance of geoengineering: an emerging challenge for international and domestic legal systems?

Scientists propose developing geoengineering as an alternative means for responding to the risks of anthropogenic climate change. Discussions are growing amongst academics, stakeholders and policymakers as to how geoengineering might be best governed. An underlying assumption stemming from scientific literature is that greater scientific research on geoengineering technologies is needed to focus and progress discussions on governance and that law will play at best a peripheral role. This article challenges this assumption by considering how legal research can constructively contribute to the governance of geoengineering, regardless of further scientific developments. This article is a précis for an upcoming special edition of this Journal. As such, it provides an overview of proposed geoengineering technologies and introduces key legal issues they raise. Further legal research is needed to better understand the potential of existing legal frameworks to contribute to future geoengineering governance and to bolster the normativity of law in broader discussions on geoengineering governance.