Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

International eia Law and Geoengineering: Do Emerging Technologies Require Special Rules?

International eia Law and Geoengineering: Do Emerging Technologies Require Special Rules? This article explores the adequacy of the international rules on environmental impact assessment to contribute to geoengineering governance, with a focus on three fundamental challenges. First, the near-universal trigger for eia is the likelihood of significant environmental impact, which may prove to be insufficiently precautionary in light of current risk preferences surrounding geoengineering. Second, the scope of eia has traditionally focused narrowly on the assessment of direct physical impacts; however, many of the concerns that geoengineering research raises relate to environmental and social risks associated with downstream technological implications. A third and related challenge is the consultation requirements under eia laws, which focus on affected states and affected members of the public. Because many geoengineering activities are anticipated to impact the global commons, there is no clear institutional mechanism for implementing notification and consultation. Additionally, the broader sets of concerns that geoengineering raises are spatially unbounded, again making the identification of consultation partners uncertain. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the challenges and limitations of the rules of eia for geoengineering. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Climate Law Brill

International eia Law and Geoengineering: Do Emerging Technologies Require Special Rules?

Climate Law , Volume 5 (2-4): 111 – Oct 26, 2015

Loading next page...
 
/lp/brill/international-eia-law-and-geoengineering-do-emerging-technologies-1yIVzWc3WJ

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2015 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Subject
Articles
ISSN
1878-6553
eISSN
1878-6561
DOI
10.1163/18786561-00504002
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article explores the adequacy of the international rules on environmental impact assessment to contribute to geoengineering governance, with a focus on three fundamental challenges. First, the near-universal trigger for eia is the likelihood of significant environmental impact, which may prove to be insufficiently precautionary in light of current risk preferences surrounding geoengineering. Second, the scope of eia has traditionally focused narrowly on the assessment of direct physical impacts; however, many of the concerns that geoengineering research raises relate to environmental and social risks associated with downstream technological implications. A third and related challenge is the consultation requirements under eia laws, which focus on affected states and affected members of the public. Because many geoengineering activities are anticipated to impact the global commons, there is no clear institutional mechanism for implementing notification and consultation. Additionally, the broader sets of concerns that geoengineering raises are spatially unbounded, again making the identification of consultation partners uncertain. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the challenges and limitations of the rules of eia for geoengineering.

Journal

Climate LawBrill

Published: Oct 26, 2015

Keywords: Geoengineering; international environmental law; environmental impact assessment ( eia ); research governance

There are no references for this article.