Solar Radiation Modification: Project FAQs

We are undertaking this project to explore and analyse the ethical considerations and health-related impacts related to Solar Radiation Modification (SRM). We aim to make recommendations for UK-based policy and decision making, in particular those relating to research and development.

Although the project is mainly UK-focused in scope, it will also consider the global context and the potential international impact of UK policy and decision making on SRM.

Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) has been proposed as a potential intervention that could suppress the global temperature rise caused by anthropogenic climate change. There has been increased interest and research funding in SRM in recent years, however, it remains controversial and raises a range of ethical considerations. There is also a lack of consensus about whether SRM interventions should be explored or whether climate interventions of this kind would ever be an appropriate, effective, or ethically justified means of responding to climate change. There is currently limited ethical guidance to guide decision-making, and arguably no laws or regulations specifically addressing its research and development.

We do not have an organisational position on SRM, but do have a long history in evaluating new and emerging technologies. 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 policymakers, including funders and researchers.

Our expert working group will oversee, guide and support the project’s activities and outputs. It will meet at regular intervals to discuss and deliberate findings.

To ensure a wide range of perspectives inform our work, we will seek to convene a diverse range of stakeholders, from across the full spectrum of views on SRM, to facilitate a rigorous dialogue on the relevant ethical considerations.

We plan to use the following research methods to ensure wider input into the project in the UK and globally:

• semi-structured interviews;
• desk-based research;
• engagement with relevant individuals, organisations and agencies, including those based internationally;
• workshops (UK and international), and;
• an open call for evidence to gather input on how the interests of future generations, the environment and non-human species can be incorporated into decision-making.

We aim to publish our first output, a rapid review of the relevant ethical considerations, in Spring/Summer 2026. The project as a whole is expected to run until early 2027 with the potential for a series of outputs to be published over this period of time.

Geoengineering is a broadly defined term that encompasses a range of very different potential technologies. By contrast, SRM is more specific to interventions that aim to reflect sunlight. It is a significant focus of current research and is widely used and understood by funders, researchers and other organisations in this field.

We will consider a range of potential SRM 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), and stratospheric aerosol injection (releasing aerosol particles into the stratosphere to mimic the cooling effects caused by volcanic eruptions), amongst others.

Yes – we are interested in exploring how the impacts on future generations, the environment and non-human species should be considered and addressed in policy and decision making on SRM.