Govern Geoengineering

The report asserts that geoengineering is not an unregulated frontier but is subject to restrictive international laws, including a de facto moratorium by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and regulations under the London Convention/London Protocol (LC/LP). It warns that a proliferation of outdoor experiments, driven by voluntary carbon markets and recent COP29 decisions, threatens biodiversity and human rights. The author calls for a ban on outdoor experiments and the establishment of an International Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering.

• The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) established a de facto moratorium on all geoengineering in 2010, which was reaffirmed in 2016 and 2024. This moratorium prohibits geoengineering activities unless there is "robust scientific justification and appropriate consideration of the environmental risks and broader social impacts."
• The London Convention/London Protocol (LC/LP) prohibits ocean fertilization and seeks to restrict four additional marine geoengineering categories: microbubbles, marine cloud brightening, ocean alkalinity enhancement, and biomass cultivation and dumping. These are restricted because they may have "deleterious effects that are widespread, long-lasting or severe."
• Geoengineering may violate international law and human rights, specifically the precautionary principle from the UN Rio Declaration and the obligation to prevent transboundary harm. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued a 2024 Advisory Opinion stating marine geoengineering could violate the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) by introducing pollutants into the marine environment.
• Geoengineering poses significant risks to human rights, including the right to life, health, food, and water. A 2023 Human Rights Council Advisory Committee report noted that because these technologies are global in scale, they could "affect everyone indiscriminately" and have a "massive and disproportionate impact on Indigenous Peoples."
• There is a rapid increase in outdoor geoengineering trials; at least 598 have been proposed since 1971, with over 90 percent proposed between 2004 and 2023. Between 2019 and 2023, solar geoengineering experiments tripled and marine carbon dioxide removal field experiments quadrupled.
• Voluntary carbon markets and decisions at COP29 are identified as drivers for the commercialization of geoengineering, potentially creating a "backdoor" for risky technologies through the trading of greenhouse gas removals.
• There is growing international momentum for an International Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering, supported by over 500 academics, nearly 2000 civil society organizations, the European Parliament, and the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment.

APA

Church, M. (2025). Govern Geoengineering. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/govern-geoengineering/

Chicago

Church, Mary. Govern Geoengineering. Center for International Environmental Law, 2025. https://www.ciel.org/govern-geoengineering/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Church |first1=Mary |title=Govern Geoengineering |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=5 March 2025 |url=https://www.ciel.org/govern-geoengineering/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{church2025govern, author = {Church, Mary}, title = {{Govern Geoengineering}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ciel.org/govern-geoengineering/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }