PROBLEM:

HOW DOES GEOENGINEERING ON INTERNATIONAL LAW AFFECT

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES RIGHTS?

UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Paris Agreement: essential elements

The Paris Agreement’s aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change
by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-
industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5
degrees Celsius. Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal
with the impacts of climate change. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial
flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put
in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in
line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced
transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework. There
will be a global stocktake every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving
the purpose of the Agreement and to inform further individual actions by Parties.
http://bigpicture.unfccc.int/#content-the-paris-agreemen

Preamble

Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind, Parties should, when
taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective
obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local
communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and
the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and
intergenerational equity . . .

Recognizing that Parties may be affected not only by climate change, but also by the impacts of
the measures taken in response to it.

Article 4: Commitments
 2. The developed country Parties and other Parties included in Annex commit
themselves specifically as provided for in the following:

(a) Each of these Parties shall adopt national policies and take corresponding measures on the
mitigation of climate change, by limiting its anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and
protecting and enhancing its greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs.

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding
emission reduction targets.

Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of
GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the
Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common but
differentiated responsibilities."

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force
on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at
COP 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, and are referred to as the "Marrakesh Accords." Its first
commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012.
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

INTERNATIONAL LAW ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S RIGHTS

Affirming that indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples,

while recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider
themselves different, and to be respected as such,

Recognizing also the urgent need to respect and promote the rights
of indigenous peoples affirmed in treaties, agreements and other
constructive arrangements with States,

Convinced that control by indigenous peoples over developments

affecting them and their lands, territories and resources will enable
them to maintain and strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions,
and to promote their development in accordance with their
aspirations and needs,
UNDERSTANDING GEOENGINEERING

Solar Radiation Management (SRM) or Solar Geoengineering

SRM techniques aim to reflect a small proportion of the Sun’s energy back into space,
counteracting the temperature rise caused by increased levels of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere which absorb energy and raise temperatures. Some proposed techniques include:

o Albedo enhancement. Increasing the reflectiveness of clouds or the land surface so that more
of the Sun’s heat is reflected back into space.
o Space reflectors. Blocking a small proportion of sunlight before it reaches the Earth.
o Stratospheric aerosols. Introducing small, reflective particles into the upper atmosphere to
reflect some sunlight before it reaches the surface of the Earth.

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) or Carbon Geoengineering

CDR techniques aim to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, directly countering the
increased greenhouse effect and ocean acidification. These techniques would have to be
implemented on a global scale to have a significant impact on carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere. Some proposed techniques include:

o Afforestation. Engaging in a global-scale tree planting effort.

o Biochar. 'Charring' biomass and burying it so that its carbon is locked up in the soil.
o Bio-energy with carbon capture and sequestration. Growing biomass, burning it to create
energy and capturing and sequestering the carbon dioxide created in the process.
o Ambient Air Capture. Building large machines that can remove carbon dioxide directly from
ambient air and store it elsewhere.
o Ocean Fertilisation. Adding nutrients to the ocean in selected locations to increase primary
production which draws down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
o Enhanced Weathering. Exposing large quantities of minerals that will react with carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere and storing the resulting compound in the ocean or soil.
o Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement. Grinding up, dispersing, and dissolving rocks such as
limestone, silicates, or calcium hydroxide in the ocean to increase its ability to store carbon
and directly ameliorate ocean acidification.
BAD EFFECTS OF GEOENGINEERING

More acid deposition - In 1977, Russian climatologist Mikhail Budyko calculated that the
additional acidity caused by sulfate injections would be negligibly greater than levels that
resulted from air pollution.10 But the relevant quantity is the total amount of acid that reaches
the ground, including both wet (acid rain, snow, and fog) and dry deposition (acidic gases and
particles).

Less sun for solar power. Scientists estimate that as little as a 1.8 percent reduction in incoming
solar radiation would compensate for a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Ozone depletion. Aerosol particles in the stratosphere serve as surfaces for chemical reactions
that destroy ozone in the same way that water and nitric acid aerosols in polar stratospheric
clouds produce the seasonal Antarctic ozone hole.

Continued ocean acidification. If humans adopted geoengineering as a solution to global

warming, with no restriction on continued carbon emissions, the ocean would continue to
become more acidic, because about half of all excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is
removed by ocean uptake. The ocean is already 30 percent more acidic than it was before the
Industrial Revolution, and continued acidification threatens the entire oceanic biological chain,
from coral reefs right up to humans.

Commercial control of technology. Who would end up controlling geoengineering systems?

Governments? Private companies holding patents on proprietary technology? And whose benefit
would they have at heart? These systems could pose issues analogous to those raised by
pharmaceutical companies and energy conglomerates whose products ostensibly serve the
public, but who often value shareholder profits over the public good.
http://climate.envsci.rutgers.edu/pdf/20Reasons.pdf