Geoengineering at Cancun

In his opening statement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Rajendra Pachauri brought geoengineering front and center. Referring to the Fifth Assessment Report, he stated that "The scope of the AR5 has also been expanded over and above previous reports, and would include, for instance, focused treatment of subjects like clouds and aerosols, geo-engineering options, sustainability and equity issues, and much greater focus on the economics and social implications of climate change." Geoengineering was largely relegated to sideshow status at Copenhagen just last year, now it is figuring in opening remarks by the head of the IPCC. It will be very interesting to see what happens at the IPCC Expert Groups' discussion of climate engineering in Peru later this month.