cbd-ts-66-en

Part I: Impacts of Climate-related Geoengineering on Biological Diversity
Box 1: Activities to promote the consideration of the views of indigenous peoples and local communities consistent
with Article 8(j) of the Convention:
• Promote the documentation
and validation of traditional
knowledge, innovations and
practices. Most knowledge is
not documented and has not
been comprehensively studied
and assessed. Therefore there is
need to enhance links between
traditional knowledge and
scientific practices.
6.4.2 Social, economic and cultural considerations of sunlight reflection methods (SRM)
As discussed in Chapter 4, SRM is only expected to partly, not fully, prevent undesirable climate change, with
implications for ecosystem productivity and associated livelihoods. Any shifts of temperature and changes to the
hydrological cycle might affect local and indigenous communities, especially those dependent on provisioning
ecosystem services such as food and energy. Cultural services such as ceremonies that follow planting and harvesting
seasons in most rain fed agricultural regions (e.g., Nigeria and Ghana462) could also be affected by any changes in
hydrological regimes. Whilst such impacts are expected to be less than for unmitigated climate change, there is
an ethical difference in that they are the consequence of deliberate action.
In theory, SRM might be able to counteract the adverse impacts of climate change to a greater extent in some regions463
(e.g., the Arctic464, 465) than others; thus such approaches might be tailored to preserve threatened traditional livelihoods.
However, there are many uncertainties regarding the impact of SRM on the climate system, and hence on food
security, ecosystem productivity and associated issues. For example, as discussed in Chapter 4, whether there might
be increases in plant productivity due to the increase in diffuse insolation; whether the the albedo of crop leaves466 can
be increased without affecting crop yields; and what changes SRM would cause to regional precipitation patterns and
extreme events, with the likelihood of substantive impacts on rainfed agriculture and traditional pastoral livelihoods.
Stratospheric aerosols could also: i) adversely affect ground-level astronomical observation; ii) interfere with
satellite-based remote sensing of Earth, and iii) make skies whiter (less blue). However, such effects have not been
investigated in detail, and their magnitude may be slight.467
6.4.3 Social, economic and cultural considerations of land-based CDR techniques
The non-climatic consequences of land based CDR are highly technique-specific, as discussed in Chapter 5, with
corresponding variability in socio-economic impacts via ecosystem productivity and associated livelihoods. Some
approaches could, in theory, increase ecosystem productivity468 and food production; e.g. through increased carbon and
nutrient content in soils.469 It is, however, less certain whether such unintended benefits could be sustained, and whether
the intended benefits could be of sufficient magnitude to significantly counteract anthropogenic climate change.470
462 IITA (2010).
463 Ban-Weiss & Caldeira (2010).
464 Latham et al. (2008).
465 Rasch et al. (2009).
466 Ridgwell et al. (2009).
467 Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative (2011).
468 Woodward et al. (2009).
469 The Royal Society (2009).
470 Vaughan & Lenton (2011).
• Revitalize traditional knowledge,
innovations and practices on
climate change impacts on
traditional biodiversity based
resources and ecosystem
services through education and
awareness-raising, including in
nomadic schools.
• Explore uses of and opportunities for
community-based monitoring linked
to decision-making, recognizing
that indigenous people and local
communities are able to provide
data and monitoring on a whole
system rather than single sectors
based on the full and effective
participation of indigenous and local
communities.
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