Understanding “mission-driven research” in solar geoengineering as a moral relationship

Abstract

Against an investigator-driven or curiosity-driven framework, several authors have put forward a Mission-Driven Research (MDR) model for Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) research. The proposal makes sense from the perspective of funding allocation and research efficiency but also raises questions about who can legitimately attribute a mission to SRM researchers, the content of the mission itself, and procedural issues about the identification and elaboration of the mission. In this piece, we concentrate on a narrower aspect. We claim that, due to the nature of SRM research, its risks, the seriousness of the problem it aims to tackle (potentially catastrophic climate change), as well as populations’ vulnerability towards both climate change and SRM, researchers to whom a mission is attributed enter into a moral (not legal) fiduciary relationship with SRM research stakeholders. Though we do not perform an exhaustive moral analysis of this relationship, we contend that its demanding nature needs to be properly acknowledged and taken into account.