The Ethics of ¿geoengineering¿ the Global Climate by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367501549
Google: TrxuzQEACAAJ
Amazon: B08HR6D88Z
Barnesnoble: B08HR6D88Z
Goodreads: 56151930
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-07-15T08:38:05+00:00

Information-Sharing as the Primary Mechanism of Research Equity

Geoengineering researchers are aware of the sharp inequalities between researchers in the developed and developing world. They correctly perceive that these inequalities can generate worries about the legitimacy of the decision-making process. Many have subsequently argued11 that some inclusive political process needs to govern eventual deployment decisions, but the primary mechanism for maintaining the legitimacy of the research process is to ensure that scientists around the world have access to its results. This sort of transparency, again, is consistent with a risk paradigm. Having an open and transparent discussion where individuals can test and replicate various results helps ensure that people of good will can avoid serious mistakes that would lead to imprudent interventions. It will surface potential problems and decrease the chances of groupthink. Yet, transparency is an inadequate compensation for existing inequalities in resources and capability. In the face of severe inequality, any objections generated through transparency still depend upon the good will of the powerful for uptake.

To illustrate, let us return to ISLAND. In the first scenario, transparency would solve the potential domination of the dam construction. This is because we assumed no differences in capability or resources such that the only difference is one of knowledge. So, if the Morlocks wish to develop the dam for peaceful purposes and avoid domination, they can give the Eloi a copy of the plans, making their plans completely transparent and then the Eloi could counter potential flooding by building a dam of their own. Yet, in the second scenario, the reason the Morlocks were able to develop the weapon is that they had a unique set of resources or capabilities. Similarly, imagine that the Morlocks were uniquely positioned to benefit in an outsized fashion from the technology – or to suffer considerably lower costs than the Eloi for production – in ways that were not fully reducible to their knowledge or skill; perhaps the production of material for the dam required access to raw materials that were far more accessible to the Morlocks or the Eloi were positioned on the high ground such that they enjoyed a massive advantage in dealing with the subsequent flooding. In each of these cases, the mere availability of the plans would not equalize the position between the two groups. Even if the Eloi were to come upon the plans for the dam, they would not be in a position to exploit that knowledge as effectively as the Morlocks.

Yet, even if we assume a less extreme version of the example where the Morlocks are only in a more favorable position to exploit the relevant knowledge, information-sharing will at best decrease the power differential between the groups without eliminating it. The fact that the Morlocks can research or deploy the technology more effectively or efficiently will grant them superior power over the Eloi even if the availability of the relevant information makes it possible for the Eloi to deploy the relevant technology. This is an unsurprising result: if

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