Despite a wide range of climate protection efforts, it has not yet been possible to halt the continued rise in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Against this backdrop, discussions about potential targeted technical interventions in the climate system to manage climate change – so-called climate engineering – are gaining increasing momentum. However, their potential benefits are the subject of highly controversial debate, as it is clear that measures designed to manipulate natural Earth system processes on a large-scale or even global level would also entail a wide range of impacts on people and the environment. Whether, and under what conditions, climate engineering could or even should contribute to managing climate change is the central question of the TAB report. To this end, the report assesses the current state of scientific and technological knowledge, outlines the current socio-political discourse, and analyses the legal framework and regulatory requirements. Attention is also directed towards ethical, political and socio-economic assessment criteria that are of particular relevance to decisions regarding further research and development activities. Because the options offered by climate engineering fundamentally expand the scope for climate policy action in many respects, there are no simple answers to the aforementioned question. Rather, the TAB report makes it clear that there is an urgent need for a broad socio-political debate on whether, and if so which, climate engineering approaches should be researched further (and, where appropriate, brought to the point of practical application), and what risks should be accepted in doing so.