Albert Oppong-Ansah, GNA
Accra, Feb. 26, GNA – Climate scientists and stakeholders have met in Accra to discuss emerging climate intervention approaches that could potentially reduce global temperatures if climate change reaches critical levels.
One of the approaches was the Solar Radiation Management (SRM), a concept that involves reflecting a small fraction of incoming sunlight back into space in order to reduce warming.
Scientists note that the idea is similar in principle to natural cooling effects observed after major volcanic eruptions.
Participants at the forum emphasised the importance of public education, transparency, and inclusive national dialogue to ensure that discussions on climate intervention are informed, balanced, and grounded in scientific evidence.
Speaking at the opening of the two-day meeting in Accra on Wednesday, Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse, the Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), said rising global temperatures and the risk of climate had reached “tipping points”.
She said the situation had led scientists worldwide to explore a range of options that could help limit warming if existing mitigation efforts fell short.
The meeting was organised by the African Climate Intervention Research Hub (ACIRH), in collaboration with the EPA.
It forms part of efforts to strengthen engagement between science and policy in Africa, ensuring that African perspectives inform discussions on emerging climate intervention approaches.
Prof. Klutse explained that scientific interest in SRM was partly informed by the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, which led to a temporary reduction in global temperatures.
“When the volcano erupted, particles released into the upper atmosphere reflected some of the sun’s radiation back into space, resulting in a short-term cooling effect,” she said.
She noted that researchers were studying whether similar processes could be replicated deliberately, while emphasising that such approaches remained experimental and subject to ongoing scientific assessment.
Prof Klutse said the SRM, sometimes described as solar geoengineering, was not a substitute for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“It does not remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It only reduces the amount of heat reaching the Earth’s surface. As a result, it cannot be considered a permanent solution to climate change,” she noted.
Dr Francis Nkrumah, a climate physicist, University of Cape Coast, said interest in SRM had increased because it was theoretically capable of influencing global temperatures more quickly than emissions reductions, which often took longer to produce measurable effects.
“Scientific evidence suggests such cooling effects are possible, but there are still significant uncertainties about the wider impacts,” he said.
Dr Nkrumah said researchers were examining potential effects on rainfall patterns, agriculture, and the ozone layer, which protected life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
He added that African countries, including Ghana, needed to be actively involved in research and policy discussions to better understand how climate intervention approaches might interact with regional climate systems, food production, and water resources.
Dr Nkrumah reiterated that reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, which remained the primary and most reliable response to climate change.
“Climate intervention ideas are being studied as part of broader scientific research, but they do not replace the need for strong mitigation and adaptation efforts,” he said.
The African Climate Intervention Research Hub is working to build a network of African researchers who integrate expertise in climate science with emerging knowledge on Carbon Dioxide Removal and Solar Radiation Management.
Formed in 2024 and launched in 2025, the Hub brings together both experienced and early-career African climate researchers with the aim of producing research that supports informed, Africa-relevant policy discussions on climate change and climate intervention.
The initiative seeks to ensure that African interests and priorities are clearly and authoritatively represented in international climate discourse, while promoting careful, evidence-based consideration of emerging climate response options.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
26 Feb 2026