Solar Geoengineering and the Technologies of Common Concern

<p><span>The prevailing approach to the international regulation of emerging technologies is to focus on the role of international law in regulating the consequences of technologies once they are developed and in use. Limiting international law in this manner leaves the underlying ethics of technology development and the conditions of research as matters of domestic competence. In the case of solar geoengineering technologies, which have high potential to fundamentally shift existing economic, political and social systems on a global level, there is demand for a move away from risk management and the regulation of transboundary impacts as the foundational basis of international regulation in favour of a more anticipatory and non-consequentialist form of governance. This article considers whether the concept of common concern of humankind may provide a sound basis for international legal competence and a starting point for international governance of solar geoengineering research.&nbsp;</span></p> <p>Despite its introduction into international legal discourse nearly 40 years ago, there remain competing interpretations among international legal experts on how matters are determined to be a common concern of humankind and what are the legal implications of such a designation. This article presents an argument that the common concern of humankind provides the most suitable foundation for international oversight of solar geoengineering governance. The recognition of a matter as a common concern of humankind imposes a duty to cooperate on States, the content of which provides the basis by which States must account for the interests of other States in their domestic policy decisions respecting emerging technologies. By structuring open and deliberative interactions between States, the common concern of humankind is well suited to generate inter-state and public trust in scientific outcomes and contribute over time to a more substantive, rule-based approach to international oversight of solar geoengineering.</p>