Could Putin attack Britain by blocking the SUN? Fears hostile actors might deploy 'weather weapons' as ministers order probe into 'risks'
Foreign states could 'create chaos' by dimming Britain's sun and orchestrating a natural disaster, ministers have been warned.
There are fears hostile actors such as Russia could make use of solar engineering technology to reflect light away from the earth and back into space.
The concept - using techniques such as deploying aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect light back into space - has been mooted as a way of limiting global warming.
However, experts say that comes with major risks - and concerns have been raised within government that it could be abused by 'an independent or third-party actor'.
Net Zero minister Kerry McCarthy wrote in a letter: 'The UK is a longstanding leader on climate action and an active international collaborator in scientific research.
'The Government recognises the need to understand the risks and impacts of [solar radiation modification] approaches that could be deployed by an independent or third-party actor.'
In the letter seen by The Telegraph, she added: 'Robust scientific evidence is essential for informing responsible and inclusive governance.'
Aria - the government's advanced research and invention agency - has allocated £50million in funding for outdoor field trials, which include brightening clouds to reflect sunshine
Matt Ince, associate director at Dragonfly Intelligence, said Vladimir Putin's Russia was 'increasingly expanding its use of hybrid warfare activities'.
He cautioned geoengineering may be seen as a desirable option due to its 'relative affordability' and the 'feasibility of conducting it' and added some sort of intentionally orchestrated environmental disaster' is an 'avenue that Russia may pursue'.
Such tactics could 'create chaos and a sense of discord, and force countries to become more inward focussed'.
It comes as more than 560 academics have signed an open letter calling for an 'international non-use agreement' on solar geoenginering.
The letter states that without the limits the resulting geopolitics could be 'frightening and inequitable'.
Aria - the government's advanced research and invention agency - has allocated £50million in funding for outdoor field trials, which include brightening clouds to reflect sunshine.
However, the government is not proposing to deploy it for 'climate cooling'.
An Aria spokesman said: 'In line with the Government's position on SRM deployment, Aria is not funding deployment, and does not support, the deployment of any climate cooling approaches.'
The agency aims to 'unlock scientific and technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone'.
'We empower scientists and engineers to pursue research that is too speculative, too hard, or too interdisciplinary to pursue elsewhere,' it says on its website.
The research agency was originally the brainchild of Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's former chief aide, and was set up in 2021 by ex-Tory business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
The body, based in London, has been given a staggering £800million budget – of taxpayers' cash – to go towards 'high-risk, high-reward' scientific research.
A Government spokesman said: 'The government is not in favour of using solar radiation modification, but we support cautious, controlled research aimed at improving our understanding of its risks and impacts.
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