Switzerland has initiated a global debate on whether the “risks, benefits and uncertainties” of dimming the sun should be studied by a United Nations expert group. The Swiss proposal, submitted to the United Nations environment assembly that begins next week in Nairobi, focuses on solar radiation modification (SRM). He said the intention was not to promote or enable solar geoengineering but to inform governments, especially those in developing countries, about what is happening. The European parliament stressed the need for restrictive governance and the application of the precautionary principle in a statement last year on solar geoengineering. In 2022, about 500 scientists signed an appeal for a solar geoengineering non-use agreement that stipulated no public funding, no deployment, no patents, no experiments, and no support in international forums.

Source: The Guardian February 22, 2024 17:52 UTC