USING COMPLEX DECISION-MAKING TOOLS TO EVALUATE DIFFERENT GEOENGINEERING SCHEMES

SCIENTIFIC, TECHNOLOGICAL AND GEOPOLITICAL ASPECTS OF GEO-ENGINEERING SCHEMES: IMPLICATIONS FOR NEW ZEALAND PROFESSOR PHILIP BOYD
NIWA Centre of Chemical and Physical Oceanography, University of Otago, Dunedin Philip Boyd is an ocean scientist with NIWA. For the past decade he has been co-ordinating large scale manipulation experiments of ocean biota which provide insights into the complex response of ocean systems to purposeful alteration.

FRANZ OMBLER
1000Minds Franz Ombler is one of the founders of 1000Minds. Based on University of Otago research, 1000Minds decision-support software helps decision-makers address many-facetted questions.

Time: Date: Required: Location: Registration:

9.00am 5.00pm 8th March 2011 A notebook computer Science House, 11 Turnbull Street, Thorndon, WELLINGTON $100 full registration $80 Royal Society member registration $50 NGO registration For more information please contact: Jez Weston Email: jez.weston @royalsociety.org.nz Tel. 04 470 5792

The 2010 Cancun climate change conference recognised that deep cuts in net greenhouse gas emissions are required, yet any global legally binding agreement that delivers that requirement continues to be difficult to reach. Against this political backdrop the media reports growing interest in using geo-engineering to offset increasing emissions. A dizzying array of geo-engineering proposals has now been publicised, but virtually none have been tested. In New Zealand, approaches have been made by a US geo-engineering company interested in obtaining carbon credits via largescale fertilisation of the Southern Ocean. In contrast, the UN Convention on Biodiversity placed a moratorium on large-scale geo-engineering this October. Hence, it is time for both our scientific community and policy-makers to familiarise themselves with the underlying principles behind geoengineering and to discuss its regional implications. This workshop will be interactive, and each participant will use complex decision-making software to explore the many issues from safety to economics - that must be considered when discussing the merits of any geo-engineering scheme. Thus all participants should bring a notebook computer. If you cannot bring a laptop then please contact the Royal Society so that we can assist you. The workshop is aimed primarily at government and private sector agencies that have an interest in climate change and those researching geo-engineering. It is also an opportunity to become familiar with using decision-making software that may be relevant for other complex policy issues.