From: The SCoPEx Advisory Committee
Thank you to everyone who has followed along and provided input to this important process of defining appropriate governance for small-scale outdoor solar geoengineering research. It is clear from the feedback that there is a broadly shared commitment to research that can help prevent climate change from worsening. It is also clear that there is a lack of consensus about research related to geoengineering. Because of this, the SCoPEx Advisory Committee is recommending that societal engagement should occur in Sweden before any SCoPEx research is conducted in the country. The Committee has begun the process of working with leading science engagement specialists in Sweden and looking for a Swedish host for the societal engagement. The Committee has recommended to Harvard and the research team that any equipment test flights in Sweden need to be suspended until the Committee can make a final recommendation about those flights based on a robust and inclusive public engagement in Sweden.
The Advisory Committee is conducting independent technical, legal, financial, scientific, and societal reviews of the proposed small-scale SCoPEx field experiment. The proposed experiment consists of equipment test flights and, at a later time and possibly a different location, particle release flights. The technical and financial reviews are complete, and the results available on our website. The legal review will be posted soon. The scientific review, which will focus on the release of particles, will inform the Committee’s recommendation about the particle release flights. This review is pending.
The societal review focuses on the ethical and moral issues related to solar geoengineering research. Based on public input the Committee has decided to expand the societal review to encompass the equipment test flights in addition to the particle release flights. The Committee will work to conduct a listening-based engagement activity in Sweden in order to help the Committee understand Swedish and Indigenous perspectives and make an informed and responsive recommendation about the equipment test flights should any flight occur in this region. The proposed engagement in Sweden would also contribute to the Committee’s deliberations regarding the proposed particle release flights and contribute to a growing body of research and practice about public governance of geoscience research. To conduct this engagement, we have recommended that the research team postpone the proposed platform launch until the Committee can complete the societal review. This will indefinitely postpone the platform launch. We will continue to communicate updates in the coming weeks as this engagement process is defined.
The SCoPEx Advisory Committee is grateful for the vigorous input and feedback it has received, especially around the plan for public engagement.
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