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Governing the sun? Global security and governance of Solar Radiation Modification 

When: Tuesday 06 October 2026 | 11:30-12:30

Format: Breakout session

Hosted by: German Federal Foreign Office

In-person attendees can use the following link to register for the breakout session at BCSC: Agenda – BCSC 2026 Kindly note you must be logged into the app to register.

This session will take stock of expanding research and the intensifying global debate around Solar Radiation Modification. It will examine its global security dimensions, which are closely intertwined with its environmental risks. Taking a risk-centred approach, the session will explore questions of unilateral action, geopolitical tensions, transboundary impacts, contested attribution and global justice, including perspectives from Africa and the wider Global South.

The discussion will also consider:

  • What environmental and geopolitical security risks could arise from the development or potential deployment of SRM and how these risks could affect international relations and global stability
  • Whether these risks and the potentially global consequences of SRM make a more comprehensive international approach to SRM than currently exists is needed particularly from a security perspective
  • What role international law can play, and whether comprehensive and effective global governance arrangements, including a global non-use agreement, should be pursued.

Speakers: 

  • H.E. Amb. Jabril Abdulle, Ambassador, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia in Kenya
  • Prof Aarti Gupta, Professor of Global Environmental Governance Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University and Research
  • Dr Danielle Young, Assistant Professor, School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), University of Leeds 
  • Uta Klönne, Senior Science Advisor Climate Science and Impacts, Climate Analytics
  • Hibaa Haibado Ismael Houssein, Third counselor- DPR UNEP, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Djibouti

Moderated by Dr Kira Vinke, Co-Director & Head of the Center for Climate and Foreign Policy, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) 

Return to the BCSC 2026 Agenda.