The ETC Group argues that geoengineering experiments, due to their scale, are beyond the parameters of real-world scientific testing and beyond the scope of current international law. These experiments are serious threats to biodiversity, they add. “Extreme Risk Demands Extreme Precaution”, stated several civil society organizations which also support the moratorium.

These claims were made at the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity which started on Monday and will take place until October 29th in Nagoya, Japan.

Solar radiation management, through the release of stratospheric aerosols and cloud whitening, or ocean fertilization, are some of the geoengeneering techniques against climate change. These seem taken from a novel of French writer Jules Verne, considered the father of science fiction literature. But they are not, they are solutions to climate change proposed by big corporations and industrialized countries.

However, not all the scientific world supports these “magic” measures. A few months ago, the CBD’s scientific body proposed a ban on climate-related geoengineering activities that will go beyond the 2008 moratorium on ocean fertilization. This new proposal adds a ban on solar radiation management techniques, until all of the risks and impacts have been fully assessed.

The ETC Group, which supports this moratorium, works on global socio-economic and environmental issues related to new technologies and especially the impacts of technology on indigenous peoples, rural communities and biodiversity.

Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC Group, said: “some of the proponents of these technologies think it’s easier to ‘manage the sun’ than get people to take a bus,” according to a statement issued by the organization.

Geoengineering is “a political strategy aimed at letting industrialized countries off the hook for their climate debt”, reads the statement. And adds that rich nations can adopt socially and environmentally responsible policies to dramatically cut the use of fossil fuels, instead of adopting measures that affect biodiversity and the true solutions to combat climate change.

The new report by the ETC Group also denounces that several international treaties could be violated if geoengineering is applied, for instance, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Environmental Modification Treaty (ENMOD), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The study highlights that “geoengineerig flies in the face of precaution”. “Even those who would like to see large-scale investment in the field are quick to acknowledge that we do not know enough about the Earth’s systems to risk real-world geoengineering experiments”, they warned.

Photo: http://www.nomanipulenlamadretierra.org