A think tank, Climate Overshoot Commission, warns of the urgency to develop a regulatory framework that would set safe and equitable rules for geoengineering research. The call for regulation comes after Make Sunsets’ unauthorized release of two weather balloons containing sulfur dioxide in Mexico’s Baja California, violating the country’s national sovereignty. Mexico plans to draft new regulations and standards to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country and rally other countries to ban the climate strategy. However, a ban is unenforceable, and governance is also needed in the research phase. Make Sunsets also performed three additional launches near Reno, Nevada, and did not report them to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
How Mexico’s Response to Two Weather Balloons Launched by a U.S. Startup Could Set the Rules for Future Geoengineering Research
In April 2022, Luke Iseman, founder of the U.S. startup Make Sunsets, released two weather balloons filled with sulfur dioxide in Mexico’s Baja California. The intention was to deflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere, a controversial climate strategy known as solar geoengineering. However, the launch violated Mexico’s national sovereignty, leading to the country’s decision to actively draft “new regulations and standards” to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country. Moreover, Mexico plans to rally other countries to ban the climate strategy, recognizing the need for additional innovations to limit dangerous climate change.
While Mexico announced its intention to ban solar geoengineering in January, its current actions and plans to discuss geoengineering bans with other countries have not been previously reported. Mexico’s environment ministry said that “progress is being made” to prepare new regulations and norms on geoengineering, including an official Mexican standard that prohibits the activity in the national territory. This move could help set the rules for future geoengineering research, and Mexico is in a position to pull other countries together to work on this.
Janos Pasztor, executive director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative, recognizes that additional innovations may be needed to limit dangerous climate change, and Mexico could help in banning or making it happen properly together with other countries. The Mexican environment ministry statement said it would explore using the Convention on Biological Diversity’s call for a moratorium on “climate-related geoengineering activities” to enforce its ban. As growing numbers of scientists and policy makers urge further study of solar geoengineering, Mexico’s response to two weather balloons launched by a U.S. startup could set the rules for future geoengineering research.
Mexico Plans to Find Common Ground with Other Countries on Geoengineering
The release of two weather balloons containing sulfur dioxide by Make Sunsets in Mexico’s Baja California in April 2022, intended to deflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere, highlighted the ethical problems of allowing private companies to conduct geoengineering events, according to the Mexican government. This unauthorized release violated Mexico’s national sovereignty and could set the rules for future study of geoengineering, particularly by private companies, in Mexico and globally. As a result, Mexico is actively drafting new regulations and standards to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country and plans to rally other countries to ban the climate strategy.
Agustin Avila, a senior environment ministry official, stated that Mexico would also try to find common ground with other countries on geoengineering at the COP global climate summit in the United Arab Emirates this year. Iseman, founder of Make Sunsets, chose Mexico for his launch because particles launched into the stratosphere near the tropics create more cooling by staying up longer, according to him. Additionally, he had a truck and camper in Baja, and he believes the region is beautiful. David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University, called Iseman’s launch a “stunt.”
Solar geoengineering, also known as Solar Radiation Management, aims to mimic the natural cooling effects of volcanic eruptions by using planes or balloons to disperse tiny particles in the stratosphere, reducing the warming of the earth. Until Mexico’s dispute with Make Sunsets, solar geoengineering had been gaining attention from policy makers and scientists as a possible solution to climate change and limited research funding.
The strategy has been supported by 60 scientists, including former NASA climate scientist James Hansen, who signed a letter in support of further research. The Degrees Initiative, a UK-based non-government group, awarded $900,000 for research into the impacts of solar geoengineering on weather patterns, wildlife, and glaciers to scientists from Chile, India, Nigeria, and other countries. The U.N. Environment Program also recommended further study of geoengineering.
However, some scientists are against further research, arguing that large-scale interventions in the atmosphere could trigger extreme and unpredictable weather changes, including major droughts that would severely impact agriculture and food supply. In 2021, the Swedish government grounded a study led by Harvard’s Keith, which planned to spray calcium carbonate dust into the atmosphere to deflect sunlight, after indigenous Saami people accused researchers of lacking respect for “Mother Earth.”
Urgent Need for Regulatory Framework to Govern Geoengineering Research
The Make Sunsets episode of releasing two weather balloons filled with sulfur dioxide in Mexico’s Baja California has underscored the urgency of developing a regulatory framework that would allow further study of geoengineering and set safe and equitable rules for its use. Frances Beinecke, a veteran environmental activist and board member of the Climate Overshoot Commission, said the example illustrated that governance is needed not only for whether or not to utilize geoengineering but also in the research phase.
Mexico plans to draft new regulations and standards to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country and rally other countries to ban the climate strategy. However, a ban is unenforceable, according to David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University. He argues that commercial flights contain sulfur in the stratosphere, so a legislation that says otherwise is impossible.
The Make Sunsets also performed three additional launches near Reno, Nevada, and did not report them to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA requires reporting of any activity that intends to produce artificial changes in the composition, behavior, or dynamics of the atmosphere. Iseman said he sought clearance from the Federal Aviation Authority but did not disclose the balloons contained sulfur dioxide.
Clearer regulation is welcome, but the international community is moving too slowly, according to Iseman. The urgency of setting safe and equitable rules for geoengineering research is crucial to avoid unauthorized releases and potential risks to the environment and human health.
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