Solar Geo-Engineering Funding Hits $60 Billion Amid Concerns

A report indicates that funding for solar geo-engineering has escalated to $60 billion from 2020 to 2025, with 80% of this funding expected to come from private sources. The funding is aimed at large-scale projects to reduce global warming by reflecting sunlight away from Earth.

Linda Schneider from Heinrich Böll Stiftung highlights that this funding has increased tenfold in the last two years, raising concerns about the interests driving such high-risk technologies. Critics, including Coraina de la Plaza, argue that this funding diverts attention from essential climate action and poses unacceptable risks.

The report notes that 166 organizations globally have received funding, with the majority based in the U.S. and the U.K. There is a growing call from over 600 academics and 2,000 civil society organizations for a ban on outdoor experiments related to solar geo-engineering, emphasizing that these technologies cannot be fairly governed and may destabilize the already fragile climate system.