Context for Research in Climate Intervention

“Climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying," according to the Sixth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group 1 report. Many of the observed changes in the climate have no precedent in not thousands, but in hundreds of thousands of years, and that some of these changes, such as the continuous rise in sea level, cannot be reversed until within several centuries or millennia. 

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical to reducing and limiting the negative effects of climate change. However, since the planet is experiencing irreversible changes at a rapid and unprecedented pace, and emissions reduction takes many decades to affect climate and impacts, complementary pathways must be explored. 

Stakeholders around the world are beginning to consider possibilities for climate interventions such as carbon dioxide removal and solar climate intervention (also referred to as “solar radiation modification”). These approaches could potentially mitigate the effects of climate change and keep natural systems stable while society transitions to a zero-carbon and sustainable future.

Global Young Leaders Initiative at COP26

The Global Young Leaders Initiative (GYLI)’s intergenerational event at COP26 in Glasgow provided the opportunity to discuss the YCA and its ambitions among its Steering Committee members and other youth climate leaders, whose insights are shared here.