In 2023 an increase in voices on SRM led to a number of landmark reports published by influential actors namely the United Nations Environment Programmes One Atmosphere: An independent expert review on Solar Radiation Modification research and deployment. Months later at the Sixth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) in February 2024 the Government of Switzerland submitted an SRM resolution proposing an expert group to be established on SRM to provide member states with more information about the technology and its risks. The resolution was eventually withdrawn, and SRM YW discusses the reasons in this report: UNEA-6 Postmortem: Solar Radiation Modification.

SRM YW welcomes the need for more information on SRM and are concerned that the withdrawal of the resolution is a withdrawal of any attempt to achieve global consensus on how to deal with existential threats caused by a warming world, but also the threat of ungoverned small scale research such as the recent Marine Cloud Brightening experiment conducted by the University of Washington’s Marine Cloud Brightening Program and deployment, with notable examples of start-ups in  the US and Israel (Stardust Solutions) seeking to commercialize SRM.  

SRM YW are calling for young people who share this sense of belief in the need for robust governance frameworks that reflect the collective wisdom of both current and future generations to sign our open letter. With enough signatories, we can ask global leaders to ensure that intergovernmental and other processes aimed at strengthening governance for SRM research and deployment (use/ or non-use) include the perspectives of young people.