Solar Radiation Modification: No Substitute for Real Climate Action - Issue Note

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dc.contributor.approvalRecordUNEP Publishing Board
dc.contributor.authorUnited Nations Environment Programme
dc.contributor.organizationOffice of Science
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-28T10:28:02Z
dc.date.issued2025-11
dc.date.submitted2025-11
dc.descriptionSolar Radiation Modification (SRM) technologies—such as Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) and Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) are speculative concepts that aim to temporarily lower global temperatures by reflecting solar radiation back into space. These approaches do not reduce greenhouse gas concentrations—the root cause of climate change—nor do they address its impacts. These technologies also represent different levels of readiness and have been subject to a great deal of political and scientific controversy. Sometimes cast as an emergency tool, SRM remains poorly understood and fraught with uncertainties and risks, and is no substitute for mitigation or stronger adaptation. For now, SRM is largely confined to models, simulations and theory. The unintended consequences include disruptions to climate patterns, biodiversity and the ozone layer, with regional hydrological impacts modelled as being uneven. This Issues Note provides a review of the latest literature on specific topics that are of relevance to UNEP’s mandate. It also presents a set of agreed approaches and recommendations regarding UNEP’s communication of the subject matter. It is meant to ensure consistency in messaging across the organization on this topic. You can check Solar Radiation Modification: Scientific evidence does not support SRM as a viable climate solution - Working Paper at: https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/49509en
dc.description.reviewStatuspeer-reviewed
dc.description.statusFinal
dc.formatpdf
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.59117/20.500.11822/48995
dc.identifier.isbn978-92-807-4245-9
dc.identifier.otherEO/2727/NA
dc.identifier.urihttps://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/48995
dc.languageEnglish
dc.page.number7 p.
dc.relation.haspartSolar Radiation Modification: Scientific evidence does not support SRM as a viable climate solution - Working Paper
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGOen
dc.rights.accessLevelPublic
dc.rights.copyrightUnited Nations Environment Programme
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectClimate Action
dc.subject.sdgSDG 13 - Climate Action
dc.subject.themeclimate
dc.subject.themesolar radiation
dc.subject.themeair
dc.subject.themeaerosol
dc.subject.themeadministration
dc.subject.themegreenhouse gas emission
dc.subject.themeclimate change
dc.subject.themebiology
dc.subject.themebiodiversity
dc.subject.themeozone layer
dc.subject.themeresearch
dc.subject.themehydrology
dc.titleSolar Radiation Modification: No Substitute for Real Climate Action - Issue Noteen
dc.typeIssues note

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