{
  "id": 12419759,
  "title": "EU wants to track potential rogue efforts to block out the sun",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/eu-wants-to-track-potential-rogue-efforts-to-block-out-the-sun",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-06T16:39:43.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3369959/eu-wants-track-potential-rogue-efforts-block-out-sun"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The European Union has initiated a €35 million tender to finance research and coordination efforts, including the detection of unauthorized attempts to manipulate the Earth's atmosphere by blocking out sunlight. This move comes as part of an early-stage initiative to coordinate actions on Solar Radiation Modification, a relatively new and contentious technology that could potentially cool the planet if temperatures reach critical levels. In a recent UN report, it was indicated that global temperatures are projected to surpass the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold within the next few years, potentially rising to as high as 2.6 degrees without alterations to current policies. The escalating impacts of climate change, such as wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, and severe floods, have raised apprehensions that governments or private entities might carry out unauthorized climate experiments with potentially hazardous consequences. Currently, there are scant international regulations to oversee or monitor such actions, and several scientists have advocated for an international non-use pact regarding these methods. The EU's tender emphasizes that the monitoring framework should be capable of identifying and attributing outdoor experiments, as well as discouraging any unilateral deployments by either private or state actors. It is explicitly stated that the focus of the project is not on deployment and field experiments.",
  "summary": "The European Union has launched a €35 million (US$39.4 million) tender to fund research and coordination on, among other things, detecting rogue efforts to alter the Earth’s atmosphere by blocking out the sun. The EU’s Horizon Europe arm, which funds research and innovation, launched the call for projects on Tuesday as part of an early stage effort to coordinate action on so-called Solar…",
  "key_points": [
    "EU launches €35M tender for solar radiation modification research",
    "Focus on detecting unauthorized attempts to manipulate Earth's atmosphere",
    "Addresses climate change concerns and lack of international regulations"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}