Debate on an e-petition relating to geo-engineering and the environment

E-petition 701963 to “make all forms of ‘geo-engineering’ affecting the environment illegal” will be debated in Westminster Hall on 23 June 2025. The subject for this debate was determined by the Petitions Committee, and the debate will be opened by Roz Savage MP.

Atmospheric geoengineering is the deliberate modification of the climate system to reduce or offset the effects of climate change.

It can include deployment of greenhouse gas removal technologies (GGRs), which actively remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.[1] Examples of these technologies include afforestation (tree planting), production of energy from biological matter with carbon capture and storage, and direct air carbon capture and storage.[2]

It can also include solar radiation modification (SRM), which is where actions are taken to modify the amount of solar radiation that passes through the atmosphere to the land surface. Examples of SRM include modifying clouds and injection of aerosols into the atmosphere.

There is no SRM currently being practiced in, or above, the UK. In 2020, the government published its view on greenhouse gas removal technologies and solar radiation management, which set out support for GGRs and emphasised that “the government is not deploying SRM, and has no plans to do so”. In response to a PQ in January 2025, Minister for Climate Kerry McCarthy reiterated this, adding that the government “funds modelling research to understand the potential impacts of SRM deployment”.

The Met Office has also set out its position on  geoengineering research (2025), concluding that “much more research is needed to understand all the potential benefits and drawbacks associated with these different techniques to ensure any debate in this area is based on robust evidence”.

There are various research programmes focused on understanding the environmental impacts of large-scale geoengineering. There is limited scientific evidence to date on the environmental or health impacts of geoengineering approaches. 

[1]     Greenhouse gases contribute to warming of the atmosphere, driving global warming and resultant climate change.

[2]     For more information on these technologies, see DESNZ, Greenhouse gas removals (GGRs): independent review, 31 March 2025