Originally published July 3, 2023 2:00 pm PDT
“SRM offers the possibility of cooling the planet significantly on a timescale of a few years,” according to the report.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Biden administration provided a report to Congress that explained an “initial research governance framework related to solar radiation modification (SRM)” following a directive to research “solar and other rapid climate interventions.”
- The report details how the government can limit the amount of sunlight hitting the Earth’s surface as a means of cooling the planet.
- “A program of research into the scientific and societal implications of solar radiation modification (SRM) would enable better-informed decisions about the potential risks and benefits of SRM as a component of climate policy, alongside the foundational elements of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and adaptation,” the report states.
- The Biden admin noted in the report that cooling from SRM “would tend to reverse many of the negative consequences of climate change, albeit with ramifications which are now poorly understood.”
- One potential consequence of SRM is “climate variability and extremes which are distinct from those in any climate without SRM” and may threaten human health.
- If research into SRM were to be pursued, “international cooperation” with other countries would be considered, the report explains.
- “Were the United States to pursue a large-scale program of SRM research, it would presumably be in our affirmative interest to begin to build a common international understanding of research needs and results” and establish a sense of transparency between nations.
- According to the report, transparency between countries “could be pursued through creation of an international database of research activities, data, and results, recognizing that there may be overlap between intervention-specific research and climate research more generally.”
EUROPEAN UNION ON BOARD:
- A joint communication to the European Parliament and the European Council said that the European Union (EU) will “support international efforts to assess comprehensively the risks and uncertainties of climate interventions, including solar radiation modification and promote discussions on a potential international framework for its governance, including research related aspects.”
- The EU admitted that climate technologies are “poorly understood” and “introduce new risks to people and ecosystems, while they could also increase power imbalances between nations, spark conflicts and raises a myriad of ethical, legal, governance and political issues.”
- Several of the organizations the EU will communicate with for future climate action include NATO, the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Arctic Council, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the League of Arab States, OSCE, and G7 and G20.
BACKGROUND:
- During the Munich Security Conference, billionaire George Soros shared his plan to “repair the climate system.”
- Soros discussed a geoengineering technology that creates clouds reflecting the sun away from areas at risk of climate change.
- The plan aims to “restabilize the Arctic climate system which governs the entire global climate system,” Soros said.
- Scientists reacted to the call for geoengineering by publishing an article explaining that the “deployment of solar geoengineering at planetary scale would require entirely new international organizations with convincing means of democratic control and unprecedented enforcement powers.”
