An Introduction to the Ethics of Geoengineering

Ethical issues related to geoengineering are numerous and complex, resisting simple overviews.  In order to get a sense of the territory, one way to present the issues is to categorize them temporally in terms of when they might initially arise.  Some issues arise when first contemplating whether to even raise the possibility of solving climate change through geoengineering.  Others arise when moving towards deployment of various technologies and still others when discussing how to bring geoengineering to a close. This temporal categorization is not perfect; several issues transcend these categories, but this organization provides a helpful introduction to the ethical issues involved in geoengineering.  Click on the timeline below to find some of the different challenges that may arise at different times.