Radical de-carbonization can still allow containing atmospheric GHG levels to a degree that may allow keeping global warming to less than +2°C above pre-industrial times, perhaps even below +1.5°C. A growing number of researchers, however, see a clear risk that GHG emissions may not be reduced at the required speed. Climate engineering and geo engineering are discussed as a possibly necessary complement to deep de-carbonization. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) techniques may remove CO2 from the atmosphere; Solar Radiation Management (SRM) techniques reflect a small percentage of the sun’s light and heat back into space.

A study published by the Royal Society in 2009 recommended that priority should clearly be given to increased efforts to reduction of GHG emissions, but that at the same time “Further research and development of geoengineering options should be undertaken to investigate whether low risk methods can be made available if it becomes necessary to reduce the rate of warming this century.”

Considering the lead-time to reach a point, when geo-engineering techniques might be applied on a large-scale without running into unpredictable risks: Should R&D efforts be scaled-up now, and how could this be done on multilateral scale?

 

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The profile of the institutional research landscape in Bonn is characterized by broad expertise in development policy and development research. Particularly noteworthy examples include the United Nations University with its Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) as a global scientific institution, as well as the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) and the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC). These institutions engage in interdisciplinary non-university research with different dimensions of sustainability and global change from the perspective of development research or peace and conflict research, and organize their research in high-performance global networks.

Finally, in addition to the discipline-oriented sustainability research with the Center for Development Research (ZEF), the University of Bonn also has an interdisciplinary research institution that conducts international research on development issues and key sustainability topics. The overall picture is completed by the Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS), which, with its International Center for Sustainable Development, is researching innovative and interdisciplinary solutions for sustainable development. In particular, as a university for applied sciences, the H-BRS focuses on the transfer of science into a sustainable economy. The political relevance of the Bonn Institutes becomes clear from the fact that DIE, BICC and ZEF have been listed among the most influential global think tanks for years - more than at any other location in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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