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Part I: Impacts of Climate-related Geoengineering on Biological Diversity ANNEX I SUMMARY OF SELECTED DEFINITIONS OF CLIMATE-RELATED GEOENGINEERING 1. Convention on Biological Diversity —decision X/33 Technologies that deliberately reduce solar insolation or increase carbon sequestration from the atmosphere on a large scale that may affect biodiversity (excluding carbon capture and storage from fossil fuels when it captures carbon dioxide before it is released into the atmosphere). 82 www.cbd.int/climate/doc/cop-10-dec-33-en.pdf 2. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change —Fourth Assessment Report Technological efforts to stabilize the climate system by direct intervention in the energy balance of the Earth for reducing global warming. www.ipcc.ch/pdf/glossary/ar4-wg3.pdf 3. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change —Third Assessment Report Efforts to stabilize the climate system by directly managing the energy balance of the Earth, thereby overcoming the enhanced greenhouse effect. www.ipcc.ch/pdf/glossary/tar-ipcc-terms-en.pdf 4. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Activities specifically and deliberately designed to effect a change in the global climate with the aim of minimising or reversing anthropogenic (that is, human made) climate change. www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/ cmselect/cmsctech/221/22102.htm 5. The United States House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology The deliberate large-scale modification of the Earth’s climate systems for the purposes of counteracting [and mitigating anthropogenic475] climate change. Hearing on 5 November 2009—Geoengineering: Assessing the Implications of Large-Scale Climate Intervention 6. The Royal Society (U.K.) The deliberate large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment to counteract anthropogenic climate change. Geoengineering the Climate: Science, Governance and Uncertainty. September 2009 7. The National Academy of Science (U.S.A.) Options that would involve large-scale engineering of our environment in order to combat or counteract the effects of changes in atmospheric chemistry. http://books.nap.edu/openbook. php?record_id=1605&page=433 8. The Australian Academy of Science A branch of science which is focused on applying technology on a massive scale in order to change the Earth’s environment. www.science.org.au/nova/123/123key.html 9. The ETC Group (Non-Governmental Organization) Geoengineering is the intentional, large-scale technological manipulation of the Earth’s systems, including those related to climate. www.etcgroup.org/en/node/5217 10. The Asilomar Conference Report: Recommendations on Principles for Research into Climate Engineering Techniques Deliberate steps to alter the climate, with the intent of limiting or counterbalancing the unintended changes to the climate resulting from human activities. www.climateresponsefund.org/images/Conference/ finalfinalreport.pdf 475 Added in the Report by the Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology ‘Engineering the Climate: Research Needs and Strategies for International Coordination—October, 2010’.
ANNEX II Part I: Impacts of Climate-related Geoengineering on Biological Diversity ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON OPTIONS FOR DEFINITIONS OF CLIMATE-RELATED GEOENGINEERING The Expert Group gave careful attention to the definition of geoengineering, not only because the consideration of definition options was included in the group’s mandate, but also because this issue was fundamental for planning and implementing its main work (assessment of impacts requires initial identification of causative agents). The following wording was agreed: • A deliberate intervention in the planetary environment of a nature and scale intended to counteract anthropogenic climate change and its impacts. This is a relatively broad definition, recognising that geoengineering covers a wide spectrum of approaches, and that additional information on what is or is not covered by the term may be needed when the definition is applied for more specific technical, operational or legal purposes. Section 2.1 of the study discusses the scope and implications of the above definition. The development of the definition by the Expert Group was based on five principles, all routinely used by lexicologists: i) usage (corpus linguistics), on the basis that it would be inappropriate for the CBD definition of geoengineering to differ significantly from the meaning currently assumed for the term by the “wider world”; ii) clarity, aiming to avoid any ambiguity in the definition overall or in any component of it that might give problems in interpretation, either within or between languages; iii) purpose, since the generality (or specificity) of a formal definition is relevant to its intended application; iv) brevity, on the basis that succinctness is preferable to superfluity, providing that essential meaning is expressed; and v) etymological consistency, although accepting that the meaning of words can evolve, depending on usage and purpose (“Earth manipulation” can be considered a good match to the greek and latin roots of geoengineering, although other transliterations are possible). The first of the above criteria—usage—was considered to be of particular importance. For evidence of wider application, the CBD Secretariat provided the Expert Group with ten formal and informal definitions of geoengineering by national and international science organisations and other bodies (these definitions are given in Annex I). Members of the group also investigated additional online usage and identified more than 200 scientific publications, mostly produced within the past five years, that had “geoengineering” in either the title, abstract or as a key word. These publications provided the basis for the Expert Group’s study, and many (but not all) are cited in the report. The definition of geoengineering developed by the Expert Group, together with related text, was subject to two rounds of peer review involving CBD Parties and international experts. All comments on the definition (~15) were assessed and taken into account before the wording provided above was finalised. This formulation was considered robust and fit for purpose as a general descriptor of geoengineering for use by the CBD. The scientific rationale for the Expert Group’s definition is summarised in Table 1 below. In this Table, the initial basis for grouping different geoengineering approaches is whether they achieve their effect on the Earth’s climate system by increasing outgoing energy (i.e. lessening the greenhouse effect, primarily by removing greenhouse gases), or by decreasing incoming energy (by reflecting sunlight), or by spatially redistributing that energy. Subsequent sub-grouping is similar, but not an exact match, to the structure of the report. Table 1 includes several geoegineering techniques that are speculative, not discussed in the report. In principle, the CBD’s definition of geoengineering could specify a subset of techniques, for example those that would seem to have the greatest likelihood of implementation; those that are considered to be novel or “technological”; those that have highest risk of adverse trans-boundary effects; or those that are likely to have the greatest impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems. However, given the large number of proposed techniques,476 the wide ranges of scales for deployment and for impacts, and the lack of detailed understanding of direct and indirect consequences, it is extremely unlikely that any such distinctions can be drawn unambiguously. 476 For example, see Isomäki (2011). 83
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