Operating Guidelines

The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to provide oversight on the appropriateness of the research and advice on the governance of SCoPEx, operating independently from the Research Team. To ensure the Committee contributes to building an international, transparent, and sustainable solar geoengineering research program, the following guidelines will outline the format for future work. For more information on Committee appointments, please visit the SCoPEx Governance page. 

Description of Duties 

  1. The Committee will engage in formal and public communication with the SCoPEx Research Team. For example, the Committee will receive a formal experiment plan from the Research Team and will produce a formal evaluation in a process that may involve several public iterations. Separately, the Committee may publicly pose questions or recommendations to the Research Team. 
    1. Committee deliberations can be private even though their formal statements will be made public. 
    2. The Committee will strive for consensus in its findings and recommendations but will present, as needed, dissenting views. It may be appropriate and useful, for example, to produce a primary report and one or more dissenting reports. 
    3. The Committee will produce an initial report and set of findings and recommendations in advance of any initiation of SCoPEx field experiments. 
    4. The Committee Chairperson will rotate for each meeting, work with the Executive Coordinator to establish the agenda, and take on additional responsibilities as needed. 
  2. The Committee may conduct other activities, such as those related to stakeholder engagement, if they deem them necessary to implement good governance over the experiment. 

Meetings 

  1. The Advisory Committee will meet in person or by conference call or webinar on a biweekly basis. The schedule will be adjusted as needed. 
  2. The Advisory Committee Executive Coordinator will request an RSVP from members. 
  3. The Coordinator will send out the meeting agenda and materials to Committee members 1-2 days in advance. Additional reading materials will be sent out 5 days prior. 
  4. Meeting minutes are written by the Coordinator, reviewed by the Chair, and approved by the Committee. 

Quorum 

  1. A quorum consists of a simple majority of voting members. Participation by speaker telephone, videoconference, or electronic means constitutes presence at meetings of the Committee as long as all members can participate in the proceedings, deliberations, and votes of the Committee.

Committee Communications 

  1. Website 

The Advisory Committee will post regular updates on its website, which will be maintained by the Executive Coordinator, and hosted independent of the SCoPEx Research Team and Harvard University. 

  1. Committee Statements 

The Committee will make statements to communicate actions and recommendations of the Committee. These will reflect consensus views, unless otherwise noted. The acting Chairperson will be the first point of contact for press inquiries, though all members may speak on Committee activities. 

  1. Individual Statements 

Committee members may make individual statements to further explain their personal views. 

  1. Social Media and Press Engagement 
    1. Engagement in dialogues on solar geoengineering with the press or on social media is the choice of individual Committee members. 
    2. Press inquiries regarding the work of the Advisory Committee will be shared with the Committee. A list of inquiries and responses will be maintained by the Executive Coordinator. The Executive Coordinator will facilitate response to press inquiries. 
    3. Statements to press and on social media concerning the ongoing activities and potential decisions of the Committee will not be made unless drawn from publicly available information on the Committee website or Committee statements. 
    4. Individual member opinions concerning SCoPEx or the work of the Committee should not be conveyed on social media or to the press until the work of the Committee is complete. 
    5. If there are questions on a particular press issue or concerns surrounding a statement made by a Committee member, it will be brought to the Committee for discussion. 

Decision Making 

1. Voting must take place at a convened meeting, where a quorum is required for all votes. A motion passes by a vote of the majority present. A member who is unable to attend a meeting can ask that his/her opinion be presented by a surrogate (e.g., the Coordinator), and can recommend a course of action (Approved, Disapprove, etc.; this is most relevant to protocol reviews), the absent member is not afforded an actual vote during the meeting. 

a. Consensus 

The Committee will strive for consensus in its findings and recommendations but will present, as needed, dissenting views. It may be appropriate and useful, for example, to produce a primary report and one or more dissenting reports. 

In the event that consensus cannot be reached, the Committee may release multiple statements. 

b. Disagreements 

Resolution of dissenting views will be achieved by a vote of members, with the acting Chair casting the deciding vote in the event of a tie. 

Financial Support 

  1. Service on the Advisory Committee is uncompensated. Harvard University’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program is covering expenses for travel, meeting logistics, and administrative support as necessary. 
  2. Harvard University’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program will provide up to $335,000 to support these activities and may provide additional funding as needed over the course of the Committee’s work.
  3. A full time Executive Coordinator will serve as the administrator for the Advisory Committee. The duties of the Coordinator are to: 
    1. Call and convene each meeting of the Committee. 
    2. Attend each meeting and work with the acting Chairperson to create the meeting agenda.  
    3. Prepare and approve all meeting agendas in coordination with the Committee Chair. 
    4. Provide information to the Committee about SCoPEx and Harvard University, and laws and regulations relevant to the Committee’s activities. 
    5. Transmit the questions, reports, recommendations and evaluations from the Committee to the SCoPEx Research Team. 
    6. Manage online communication through the Committee’s website and SCoPEx Advisory Committee mailing list. 
    7. The Advisory Committee may decide to take on additional activities, such as expert meetings, stakeholder workshops or preparation of technical reports to conduct its work.

Review of Committee Member Conflicts of Interest

  1. Every committee member must disclose any potential conflicts of interest as they arise to ensure unbiased judgement in review of the SCoPEx project. 
    1. Committee members should not be able to benefit professionally or financially by making a decision one way or the other on the SCoPEx Research Project.
    2. Committee members must be undecided on whether or not small scale field research on solar geoengineering should be conducted until such time that all review materials are collected, analyzed and discussed by the Committee.

Selection of New Committee Members

  1. The Committee may recruit new members as needed with an eye for:
    1. expertise in non-governmental research governance,
    2. experience designing and leading equitable and inclusive societal engagement in science, especially climate sciences,
    3. knowledge of climate change response strategies,
    4. expertise in climate justice.
  2. New members may be selected through an open call for applications posted on the Committee’s website and/or a targeted recruitment based on the Committee’s specific needs. All potential applicants will be reviewed and voted on by the Committee.