Current project
What is the purpose of this project?
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is undertaking this project to ensure that ethical considerations and health-related impacts related to Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) are considered and addressed within SRM policy, research and development.
The project will focus on influencing policy and decision making in the UK, while considering the impact that UK-based choices on SRM could have internationally.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is undertaking this project to ensure that ethical considerations and health-related impacts related to Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) are considered and addressed within SRM policy, research and development.
The project will focus on influencing policy and decision making in the UK, while considering the impact that UK-based choices on SRM could have internationally.
Why are we looking at this issue and why now?
Solar Radiation Management (SRM) has been proposed as a potential climate change intervention to be used alongside established mitigation and adaptation measures. It has seen increased interest and funding in recent years. However, SRM remains controversial and involves a range of ethical issues. Questions are often raised about whether it should be a focus of research at all.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics does not have an organisational position on SRM research and development but we have a long history in evaluating new and emerging biotechnologies. The aim of this project is to provide an independent and balanced ethical analysis of SRM, taking account of both human and non-human interests, that will be relevant to policy and decision makers, funders, and researchers.
When will the findings be published?
We aim to publish our first output, a rapid review of the relevant ethical considerations, in Spring 2026. The project is expected to run until early 2027 and a series of outputs will be published over this period of time.
Why are we using the term Solar Radiation Management, rather than geoengineering?
Geoengineering is a broadly defined term that encompasses a range of very different technologies. By contrast Solar Radiation Management is more specific to interventions that reflect sunlight, is a focus of current research, and is widely used and understood by funders, researchers and other organisations in this field.
Which types of Solar Radiation Management interventions are we including in our analysis?
We will consider a range of Solar Radiation Management interventions in our research and analysis, such as 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), amongst others.
Are you looking beyond human impacts?
Yes – we are interested in considering ethical considerations and potential trade-offs that apply to current and future generations and non-human species.