Government ‘not in favour’ of efforts to dim sun

Ministers are “not in favour” of efforts to reflect more of the sun’s rays back into space.

Commons Leader Sir Alan Campbell warned solar radiation modification could expose the climate and environment to “risks”, after a Labour MP called for a debate about rules for geoengineering experiments.

Sarah Coombes, the West Bromwich MP, said: “Solar geoengineering is the idea of injecting particles into the Earth’s atmosphere to dim or reflect the light of the sun and cool the planet.

“It is something that’s been the subject of science fiction and conspiracy theories for many years.”

Solar radiation is already reflected back into space naturally, including by particles in the atmosphere and clouds.

Efforts to develop artificial methods in real life have come up against opposition, including from Greenpeace UK, which has warned the technology will not remove carbon from the air, could disrupt weather patterns, and comes with “no off switch”.

Mary Church, of the Geneva and Washington-based Centre for International Environmental Law, has warned this type of intervention “is inherently unpredictable and risks further breaking an already broken climate system”.

She said: “With uneven global impacts predicted, deployment would create winners and losers, undermining the rights of billions of people and raising the central question of who gets to control the global thermostat.”

Ms Coombes asked: “Given the potential risks of this technology, could we have a debate on how Britain will work with other countries to regulate experiments with the Earth’s atmosphere, and ensure we co-operate with other countries on solutions that actually tackle the root cause of climate change?”

Sir Alan replied: “We’re not in favour of solar radiation modification given the uncertainty around the potential risks it poses to the climate and environment.

“We do work closely with the international research community to evaluate the latest scientific evidence.”