Mac Willners is a Ph.D candidate in Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University and the Norms and Normativity Research School. 

His research centres around climate change and, in particular, the use of ‘geoengineering technologies’ for abating global warming. Questions of interest include who should compensate in the likely case that deployment of such technologies harm people, whether arguments in favour of using such technologies are counterproductively pessimistic regarding our ability to properly reduce our emissions, and whether research of such technologies could be construed as an obligation towards climate-vulnerable parts of the world.

Being part of Mimir, Mac’s research into geoengineering (in particular Stratospheric Sulphur Injections) will also consider more long-term perspectives, taking into account the vast amount of uncertainty surrounding these technologies. The existence of ‘unknown unknowns’ poses a great challenge for decision-makers, as does the fact that in deciding whether to geoengineer, decision-makers must weigh one catastrophic risk – that of catastrophic levels of global warming  – against another – that of unforeseen, catastrophic consequences of geoengineering.