Producing the Climate: The Political Economy of Climate Engineering in Australia

Abstract

In response to both the urgency of the climate crisis and the inadequacy of climate action and pledges to date, geoengineering is increasingly being considered alongside mitigation and adaptation as a way of stabilising or ‘repairing’ the climate (McLaren, 2018). This thesis conceptualises geoengineering as part of the production of nature in capitalism, rather than an ‘intervention’ in an external nature (Smith, 1984). Employing this lens and building on existing critical social science on geoengineering (Buck, 2019; Surprise, 2018, Sapinski et al., 2020; McLaren & Corry, 2021), the thesis examines how capitalism adapts to crisis by restructuring the conditions of production to forge new frontiers of accumulation (O’Connor, 1998; Moore, 2015). In response to calls for ‘place-based’ research on geoengineering, and the importance of mapping unevenness and particularity in the geography of capitalism, I analyse two Australian projects aimed at engineering the climate (Buck, 2018; Massey, 1995). Based on semi-structured interviews with teams involved in developing Direct Air Capture (DAC) in New South Wales, and scientists testing Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) techniques over the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, the case studies provide a detailed account of the development of small-scale solar radiation modification and carbon removal and storage projects. I critically analyse the potential for these projects to contribute to mitigation deterrence, promises of Australia’s ‘vast’ underground sequestration potential, public and private finance for research and development, a ‘circular economy for carbon’, the political dominance of the fossil fuel industry, and the assurances of ‘co-benefits’ for workers and Indigenous communities. I contend that climate repair may prove to be a strategic battleground in Australian climate politics, opening up possibilities for contesting the capitalist production of nature at multiple sites and scales.