Albert Oppong-Ansah
Accra, July 21, GNA – Ghana and other African countries should build capacity to influence global decisions on Solar Radiation Modification (SRM), experts and policymakers have said.
They said Africa, despite being highly exposed to climate change impacts, needed stronger scientific evidence and institutional capacity to participate in discussions on emerging climate intervention technologies.
The experts made the call at a policy dialogue on SRM governance organised by the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (STEPRI-CSIR) in collaboration with research partners from the Philippines.
The dialogue was held under the Assessment of Knowledge and Governance towards Solar Radiation Modification in Ghana (AsKGov-SRM-Ghana) project, funded by Degrees Initiative.
Dr Wilhelmina Quay, Director and Chief Research Scientist at STEPRI-CSIR, said current climate mitigation and adaptation efforts remained insufficient to keep global warming within the 1.5-degree target under the Paris Agreement.
She said this had increased interest in additional climate intervention approaches such as SRM, which could temporarily reduce global temperatures but carried scientific uncertainties and unresolved ethical, governance and equity concerns.
“There is no comprehensive international framework guiding SRM research, testing, deployment or potential termination. The questions of accountability, community participation and the management of cross-border impacts remain largely unanswered,” she said.
Dr Marcos Regis da Silva, Policy Engagement Director at Degrees Initiative, said the organisation supported developing countries, particularly in Africa, to assess SRM through research funding, expert networks and scientific and policy workshops.
He said Degrees Initiative had no institutional position for or against SRM and stressed that any deployment must remain secondary to deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr Silva said limited social science research on SRM impacts could leave African scientists and negotiators without sufficient evidence to participate effectively in global decision-making.
Dr Francis Nkrumah, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, said modelling studies conducted in Ghana and the Philippines indicated that SRM could reduce projected warming across Africa.
He said, however, that the effects of the technology on rainfall, monsoon patterns and air quality remained uncertain, with some areas projected to become drier and others wetter.
“The science can tell us what SRM might do to our temperatures, our rains, our air and our fields. It cannot tell us whether it is wise, fair, or just,” he said.
Dr George Manful, an adviser to the Chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), said Ghana and Africa needed clear institutional responsibility for SRM, independent scientific and ethical reviews of research, and wider participation by affected communities.
“Africa must not be a passive recipient of technologies or rules developed elsewhere. I urge the continent to build the expertise needed to independently assess SRM’s risks and protect its own interests” hel said.
Mr Raymond Ohene Ofori of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology’s Directorate of Environment, said Ghana’s existing climate frameworks, including the National Climate Change Policy, Nationally Determined Contributions and the 2025 Environmental Protection Act, did not address SRM.
He said international governance arrangements for the technology remained unsettled and required further discussions on research, risks, costs and accountability.
Mr Ofori said more than 600 academics had signed an open letter calling for an international non-use agreement on solar geoengineering, while other researchers argued that climate-vulnerable countries should not be excluded from research and decisions affecting their future.
He called for further work to determine what the science showed, how SRM compared with other climate options, and how groups including farmers, fishers and coastal communities could participate in future decisions.
Dr Portia Adade Williams, Principal Investigator of the AsKGov-SRM-Ghana Project, said more than nine in 10 Ghanaians had no knowledge of SRM.
She said the project surveyed more than 600 respondents to assess public perceptions of the technology.
Dr Williams said the project had improved engagement with institutions, strengthened research and governance recommendations, and produced a policy brief to support future decision-making.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Albert Oppong-Ansah
Email: [email protected]