Current projectReview

Solar Radiation Management

Investigating the ethical issues and health-related impacts of Solar Radiation Management research and development.

Solar radiation management (SRM) – also sometimes known as solar geoengineering or earth cooling interventions – aims to reflect sunlight away from the earth’s surface to reduce global temperatures that are rising as a manifestation of climate change.

Examples of SRM include marine cloud brightening (spraying sea water or sea salt participles from ships to enhance the reflectivity of low-lying clouds over the ocean), stratospheric aerosol injection (releasing aerosol particles into the stratosphere to mimic the cooling effects caused by volcanic eruptions) and cirrus cloud thinning (reducing the heat-trapping effect of high, wispy cirrus clouds by adding particles to thin the clouds).  

Research funders in the UK have announced research to explore these interventions. However, there is controversy over whether or not these interventions are ethically justified, and whether they should be used as a means to address climate change.

Our project aims to provide an independent and balanced ethical analysis of SRM by:

• highlighting the key ethical considerations relevant to SRM, including the ethical trade-offs which will need to be addressed
• convening a diverse range of stakeholders to facilitate dialogue across diverse perspectives
• considering current practice and how SRM research and development might develop in the future
• considering the interests of current generations, future generations and non-human species
• developing outputs that provide specific recommendations on how to embed ethics into decision-making about SRM research and development