Reflecting Sunlight Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance (2021) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4 A Solar Geoengineering Research Program: Goals and Approach
4 A Solar Geoengineering Research Program: Goals and Approach
Pages 139-158
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 139... ...
The Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program, the Marine Cloud Brightening Project at the University of Washington, and the Marine Cloud Brightening Project for the Great Barrier Reef based in Australia are examples of existing programs that, while still modest in scale, have grown to include several researchers representing a range of disciplines. As national or international programs emerge, it will be important to recognize, build upon, and coordinate across efforts at every scale.
|
From page 140... ...
The next chapter identifies specific governance mechanisms to foster norms among researchers. 4.2 GOALS AND ATTRIBUTES OF A SOLAR GEOENGINEERING RESEARCH PROGRAM The type of ongoing research and research governance framework that the committee envisions is illustrated in Figure 4.1.
|
From page 141... ...
would build in opportunities to make adjustments as needed. This possibility of exit ramps helps address the general problem of research funding for a specific project or a larger program becoming locked into place and renewed year after year even in the absence of meaningful progress.
|
From page 142... ...
Likewise, public engagement and transparency are mainstays of socially robust research and will be critical for the success of a research program. Diversity is needed in terms of the sites of production of knowledge and the expertise assembled to engage in research.
|
From page 143... ...
Specifically, coordination is essential for integrating perspectives from research, from those involved in supporting and guiding this research enterprise, and from those exploring governance strategies for any potential future deployment. An SG research program could employ numerous mechanisms to effec 143
|
From page 144... ...
Finally, the SG research program should award funding in a manner that encourages creative thinking while avoiding commitments to further development of a specific technology or to the creation of research communities that are invested in its ultimate deployment. Awarding funding through a competitive process ensures that diverse researchers are able to apply for funding, and competition among research teams also ensures that the best ideas are generated and tested.
|
From page 145... ...
to determine whether continued research is justified and, if so, how goals and priorities should be updated. "Exit ramps" (i.e., criteria and protocols for terminating research programs or areas)
|
From page 146... ...
This will require multiple kinds of expertise such as modeling and experimental natural science (e.g., atmospheric science and ecological sciences) , social science, and the ability to engage in transdisciplinary research that brings to bear multiple disciplines on identifying the issues of local relevance and then engaging in the production of knowledge to address these issues.
|
From page 147... ...
may play a key role in undertaking or facilitating research, especially in cases in which individual countries do not have appropriate research institutions. A well-informed and active civil society can play a key role in bringing to bear a variety of perspectives into these efforts as well as helping ensure that marginalized groups also have a voice in the process.
|
From page 148... ...
International support may be particularly useful for the development of local capacity in countries that have limited public funding to support SG research. This issue will require thoughtful engagement, though, both in terms of understanding what kinds of capacities are particularly needed in that context and how to develop such capac BOX 4.2 Why Start a Research Program Now?
|
From page 149... ...
But the holistic and inclusive research program proposed by the committee seeks to balance these path dependencies so that all options remain open, until there is sufficient knowledge for evidence-based decisions. Indeed, one motivation for starting an SG research program now is to help grow the community with relevant expertise, especially in areas where research to date, interdisciplinary integration, and public engagement have been limited.
|
From page 150... ...
The United States does not currently have a coordinated federal SG research program, nor a coordinated approach for creating such a federal program. Several federal science agencies support global change research activities that advance observational science; climate analysis; detection and attribution research; and the development, evaluation, and application of Earth system models (see Table 4.1)
|
From page 151... ...
• The National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and EPA, for research related to impacts on human health. Agencies such as DOE, NOAA, and NASA have considerable experience with missiondriven atmospheric monitoring (including aerosol research)
|
From page 152... ...
The limited investment in human dimensions research makes it challenging to address some of the questions of greatest relevance for SG research, in which public perception and social attitudes are likely to play an important role in future decisions. An effective, transdisciplinary research program will require coordination across multiple agencies, national laboratories and cooperative institutes, and academic institutions.
|
From page 153... ...
noted that the Adaptation Working Group and the Climate Change and Human Health Working Group made important contributions to the third National Climate Assessment, and the Carbon Cycle Working Group has facilitated significant progress across multiple agencies. Despite its successes, the ability of USGCRP to coordinate across participating agencies has at times been hindered by the program's inability to directly control relevant agency budgets or to shift funding to emerging research areas, by the lack of strong leadership, and by insufficient support for coordinating mechanisms (NASEM, 2016; NRC, 2004)
|
From page 154... ...
CLIVAR office is co-located with the USGCRP National Coordination Office. Public Engagement The 2011 GAO report also discussed how effective engagement can foster shared learning across national leadership, the general public, and the research community; help ensure transparency; build shared norms; help frame research agendas to reflect the concerns and needs of the public and decision makers; and bring an informed, democratic process to decisions that broadly affect society.
|
From page 155... ...
Global Change Research Program should be tasked to provide coordination and transparent oversight of the research program, addressing roles including but not limited to the following: • Guiding the development and coordination of complementary research activities across the relevant federal agencies and advancing the research elements that are best aligned with each agency's mission and capabilities; • Integrating existing agency assets, coordinating and tracking budget allocations, and harmonizing future budget requests; • Overseeing coordinated research solicitations that foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge, relationships, and solutions, across all relevant disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences; • Maintaining an active database of all SG research activities, in particular activities related to outdoor experimentation, and ensuring that this information is made publicly available; • Ensuring rigorous peer review of all research proposed under the program; 4 See http://ncanet.usgcrp.gov/.
|
From page 156... ...
Support from philanthropic sources may be particularly valuable for advancing research and research governance activities that pose a difficult fit for traditional government funding. For instance, efforts related to international capacity building do not align easily with the mission or scope of existing federal agency programs and thus could be bolstered by alternative means of support.
|
From page 157... ...
This complementary support may be particularly useful for helping address priority areas identified by other nations and nongovernmental organizations in the Global South with independently developing research programs and interests as well as for rapidly advancing the near-term work needed to help inform research program design efforts (given that philanthropies can often make grants much more quickly than federal agencies)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.