BALANCING ACT Assessing Risks and Governance of Climate Intervention
12 January 2026 | ZEROGeoengineering.com| A 2024 National Security Perspective report published by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory discusses governance principles for climate interventions including solar radiation management (SRM) and stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI). Recommendations for governance include coordinating Federal agencies such as The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the US Intelligence Community, in collaboration with the United Nations (UN). Acknowledged in the report are potential harms to the environment, economic activity, and human health resulting from climate interventions.
NOTE: USGCRP functions have moved under the Trump administration to the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services (ICAMS). ICAMS is “is the formal mechanism by which all relevant Federal departments and agencies coordinate implementation of policy and practices,” established in 2017 by the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act (Public Law No. 115-25, Title IV, sec. 402, 15 U.S.C. § 8542). Though the administration has discussed defunding the UN, global weather enterprise partners — the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) have not been mentioned.
“…Despite the hope that climate intervention may prevent the increasingly dire climate change projections from becoming reality, the efficacy of many climate intervention methods remains uncertain. Moreover, many methods pose their own risks to the environment, global ecosystems, and critical human systems…”
“Currently, no formal international or US domestic regime comprehensively governs every type of climate
intervention…”
“…The Office of Science and Technology Policy recommendation that the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) coordinate is appropriate, and coordination should include Department of Defense equities, as it does for climate change issues writ large. Engagement with the United Nations will also be important.”
“Climate intervention (sometimes also labeled geoengineering or climate engineering) refers to large-scale techniques to directly change Earth’s climate system.”
“..As a global issue, climate intervention may affect international relations and decisions of the future US national security community.”
SRM Methods
“Effects of climate intervention methods, such as injecting aerosol into the atmosphere (SAI) and fertilizing the ocean with iron (OIF), can damage civilian systems across borders.”
“Additionally, particles suspended at lower altitudes in the stratosphere are predicted to have a lifetime on the order of years, as opposed to days or weeks…”
Link To Full Report BALANCING ACT Assessing Risks and Governance of Climate Intervention
Related
German Environment Agency Report on SRM Geoengineering Governance