Governing SRM Research for Legitimacy and Justice

With major US scientific institutions supporting a program of solar geoengineering research, the UK’s ARIA agency actively pursuing open air experimentation, and the EU in the process of clarifying its position, the question of how such research should be governed has been given new urgency. This paper argues that innovation in the structures and procedures of existing institutions for the oversight of scientific research is highly desirable, to promote the level of legitimacy, procedural justice, and recognition to which recent major proposed research governance frameworks aspire. First, we argue that SRM research is importantly dissimilar from climate research, but bears more similarity to other high-risk research areas, implying the need for special institutional arrangements. Second, we identify the special challenges of legitimacy–particularly its procedural justice component–with respect to the potential global, intergenerational and cross-community scope of legitimation requirements. Third, we argue that achieving legitimacy and procedural justice in the context of SRM research governance must include considerations of justice as recognition. Finally, we consider the institutional implications of legitimate and recognition-inclusive SRM research institutions.