Durban: Geoengineering as a response to cultural lock-in

Recent developments in the UN process intended to address anthropogenic climate change, including the conference of the parties in Durban, South Africa, have increased concerns about how successful current policy initiatives are liable to be. Change in the existing policy structure is, however, unlikely because of cultural lock-in, including the institutional and psychological commitments of many participants to the current process. Accordingly, there may be increased pressures to develop geoengineering technologies, intended to reduce anthropogenic climate change by either capturing atmospheric CO₂, or reducing solar insolation. These technologies are still nascent, however, and pose significant risk if deployed at scale prematurely.