Edward Parson

About

Edward A. Parson is the Dan and Rae Emmett Professor of Environmental Law and Faculty co-director of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research focuses on international environmental law and policy, the role of science and technology in public policy, and the political economy of regulation. Parson has contributed extensively to the academic literature, with articles published in prominent journals such as Nature, Science, Climatic Change, Issues in Science and Technology, the Journal of Economic Literature, and the Annual Review of Energy and the Environment. His notable books include The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change (Cambridge, 2nd edition, 2010, co-authored with Andrew Dessler) and Protecting the Ozone Layer: Science and Strategy (Oxford, 2003), the latter of which received the 2004 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award from the International Studies Association. Parson has played significant roles in advisory capacities, chairing and serving on senior committees for the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and other organizations, including the Synthesis Team for the US National Assessment of Climate Impacts. In 2005, he was appointed to the National Advisory Board of the Union of Concerned Scientists. His consulting and advisory experience extends to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. Congress Office of Technology…

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Economics
• Environmental science
• Engineering
• Political Science
• Environmental economics
• Environmental resource management
• Aerospace engineering
• Finance
• Marketing

Selected publications

• Evaluating the efficacy and equity of environmental stopgap measures

  Nature Sustainability · 2020 · 51 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2019-08-17 · 32 citations

  bookSenior author

  This third edition has been comprehensively updated to reflect the large changes in scientific knowledge and policy debates on climate change since the previous edition in 2009. It provides a concise but thorough overview of the science, technology, economics, policy, and politics of climate change in a single volume. It explains how scientific and policy debates work, outlines the scientific evidence for the reality and seriousness of climate change and the basic atmospheric science that suppor…

  PublisherDOI

• Solar Geoengineering: History, Methods, Governance, Prospects

  Annual Review of Environment and Resources · 2024-08-21 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Solar geoengineering, also called sunlight reflection or solar radiation modification (SRM), is a potential climate response that would cool the Earth's surface and reduce many other climate changes by scattering on order 1% of incoming sunlight back to space. SRM can only imperfectly correct for elevated greenhouse gases, but it might complement other climate responses to reduce risks, while also bringing new risks and new challenges to global governance. As climate alarm and calls for effectiv…

  PublisherDOI

• Toward an evidence‐informed, responsible, and inclusive debate on solar geoengineering: A response to the proposed non‐use agreement

  Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change · 2024-05-29 · 14 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract A prominent recent perspective article in this journal and accompanying open letter propose a broad international “non‐use agreement” (NUA) on activities related to solar geoengineering (SG). The NUA calls on governments to renounce large‐scale use of SG, and also to refuse to fund SG research, ban outdoor experiments, decline to grant IP rights, and reject discussions of SG in international organizations. We argue that such pre‐emptive rejection of public research and consultation woul…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nonstate governance of solar geoengineering research

  Climatic Change · 2020-04-16 · 14 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract As climate change’s risks have grown and limits to primary responses become evident, solar geoengineering (or solar radiation modification) has risen in prominence as a potential complementary response. Widespread calls for expanded research have raised objections, based on anticipated links to potential future deployment and potentially harmful interactions with other climate responses. The unique concerns raised by solar geoengineering may warrant governing associated research with mo…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• A. E. Dessler

  Texas A&M University

  25 shared

• David W. Keith

  University of Chicago

  8 shared

• Jesse L. Reynolds

  8 shared

• and Karen Fisher-Vanden

  Agricultural & Applied Economics Association

  6 shared

• Richard Zeckhauser

  Harvard University Press

  5 shared

• Marc A. Levy

  University of Geneva

  4 shared

• Cary Coglianese

  4 shared

• David L. Peterson

  Northern Research Station

  4 shared

Labs

• Emmett Center on Climate Change and the EnvironmentPI

  Focuses on international environmental law and policy, the role of science and technology in public policy, and the political economy of regulation.

Education

• Ph.D., Environmental Science and Policy

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1992

• M.A., Environmental Science and Policy

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1989

• B.A., Political Science

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  1985

Awards & honors

• 2004 Sprout Award of the International Studies Association

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