Fears are mounting that Russia could potentially attack the UK by blocking out the sun and orchestrating natural disasters.
Ministers have been warned that foreign adversaries - particularly Russia - could weaponize solar geoengineering, or “sun dimming,” technology to spark environmental disasters and destabilise rival nations.
The technology, which involves reflecting sunlight away from Earth using atmospheric aerosols or cloud brightening, has long been floated as a way to combat global warming. But experts are now sounding the alarm over its dark side.
“The UK is a longstanding leader on climate action and an active international collaborator in scientific research,” climate minister Kerry McCarthy wrote in a letter seen by The Telegraph.
“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.”
She added: “Robust scientific evidence is essential for informing responsible and inclusive governance.”
And while solar engineering may sound far-fetched, intelligence insiders warn that the idea isn’t so out of reach, especially for nations like Russia that are already known for “hybrid warfare” strategies.
Matt Ince, associate director at Dragonfly Intelligence, cautioned that geoengineering could become part of a new wave of geopolitical weapons.
“In a context where we’ve had, for example, Russia increasingly expanding its use of hybrid warfare activities, it’s possible - not immediately, but down the line - that they may look to broaden and diversify the types of activities that they’re conducting, to include more novel types of activity of which solar geoengineering may be one,” he said.
“Not least because of its relative affordability and the feasibility of conducting it, but also because it would allow a relative degree of plausible deniability.”
Ince continued: “That could be something like purposefully creating an oil spill within a busy shipping lane using Russia’s shadow fleet.
"But on the more imaginative end of the spectrum it’s feasible it could involve deliberately trying to use solar geoengineering technologies in order to be able to destabilise the climate within a European state and in so doing, create chaos and a sense of discord, and force countries to become more inward focused.”
More than 560 academics have signed an open letter calling for a global ban on unilateral solar geoengineering, per the Daily Mail.
“Without effective global and democratic controls, the geopolitics of possible unilateral deployment of solar geoengineering would be frightening and inequitable,” the letter warns.
Dan Marks, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, echoed those concerns.
“There are a few challenges with the way the technology works. If you are putting aerosols in the air, for example, then the Earth spins and you can’t limit that to your national boundaries. And even if you could, weather systems don’t stop at borders,” he said.
“So if a country decided to deploy that kind of technology, then there is a real question of how do you treat that legally? How do you treat it diplomatically? Equally, what if an Elon Musk or an activist group decided to do it, and decided to do it in the middle of the ocean? How do you govern that?”
Lt Gen Richard Nugee, former Ministry of Defence non-executive director for climate change and sustainability, said weaponising the sun is not just theoretical.
“No country has yet tried to weaponise the technology, quite possibly for a couple of reasons. It is seen to be very expensive for no defined and guaranteed output, and also it is not possible to predict the outcome - there are too many variables,” he explained.
“It is technically possible, but to what effect and at what cost?”
Meanwhile, Aria - the UK’s advanced research and invention agency, originally founded by Boris Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings - has already poured £50 million into outdoor field trials that include cloud brightening.
The research aims to unlock breakthroughs in solar radiation modification (SRM), but officials are quick to stress that it's purely experimental.
“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,” said an Aria spokesperson.
A Government spokesman doubled down: “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.
The Government supports Aria’s mission to fund high-risk, high-reward transformational research programmes with long-term benefits.”