Scientists recommend the EU to curb solar geoengineering.
Requests to establish a moratorium on attempts to artificially cool the Earth are increasing.
Scientific advisors to the European Commission have called for a moratorium across the EU on efforts to artificially cool the Earth through solar geoengineering. This moratorium includes controversial technologies that seek to reflect sunlight back into space, primarily through the injection of reflective particles into the atmosphere or through cloud whitening.
Proponents of these technologies argue that they could aid in the fight against climate change, especially given the ongoing rise in greenhouse gas emissions. However, some small-scale experiments have raised concerns, as there is fear that these practices could cause more harm than good. The European Commission asked its Group of Scientific Advisors (GCSA) and the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies to develop their opinions on solar geoengineering, which were published alongside a report synthesizing the limited current knowledge on how these technologies might work.
According to the GCSA, there is "not enough scientific evidence" showing that solar geoengineering can actually prevent climate change. In their opinion, the EGE states that, given the high scientific and technical uncertainty, alongside potential harmful uses, it is necessary to establish a moratorium on all experimentation and large-scale deployment of solar geoengineering. The GCSA emphasizes that this technique only attempts to address "the symptoms rather than the root causes of climate change." Greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, are warming the planet, and efforts to cool the Earth do not mitigate the accumulation of pollution or the severe problems that arise, such as ocean acidification.
Concerns exist over the unintended problems that solar geoengineering could cause, such as changes in rainfall patterns or food production and solar energy generation. The tactic that has garnered the most attention so far involves mimicking how volcanic eruptions temporarily cool the planet by releasing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, creating a reflective haze. However, the use of sulfur dioxide is considered a pollutant that could irritate people's lungs, cause acid rain, and potentially enlarge the ozone hole in Antarctica.
A notable incident occurred last year when a solar geoengineering startup injected sulfur dioxide into weather balloons in Mexico, leading that country to be the first to announce a ban on such experiments. Despite this, the company continued its experiments from California. Although these activities were too small to have a significant impact on the climate, the company attempted to sell "cooling credits" at a price of $10 per gram of sulfur dioxide to those interested in offsetting their carbon emissions.
The GCSA suggests that the European Commission should "oppose" the use of cooling credits derived from solar geoengineering. Faced with the possibility of more unregulated experiments arising, lawmakers are pressured to create stricter international standards. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity adopted restrictions on large-scale geoengineering in 2010, but it exempts small-scale experiments. Now, scientific advisors to the European Commission propose a moratorium at the EU level and suggest establishing a new international treaty regarding solar geoengineering. They also state that the EU should advocate against the implementation of these technologies globally in the foreseeable future.
While there have been some cautious efforts to fund legitimate research on solar geoengineering, these activities appear to be limited to laboratories and computational models for the time being. Recently, Harvard canceled its plans for an outdoor test in Sweden after facing opposition from Sami indigenous leaders, who argued that they were not consulted about the experiment. The scientific advisors to the European Commission indicate that the Commission should evaluate new research on solar geoengineering every five to ten years. Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation, commented that while these technologies show some potential, they are far from mature, so research must continue rigorously and ethically, taking into account the full range of direct and indirect effects.