United Nations: Official Report on Capping Climate Change from Space

On July 28, 2025, the United Nations convened an event titled Capping Climate Change from Space: Technology Development and Climate Change for the SDGs. The session provided a forum for diplomats, researchers, and civil society leaders to consider whether space-based Solar Radiation Management (SRM) could serve as a global “insurance policy” against accelerating climate risks.

PSF Executive Director Morgan Goodwin spoke on the urgent need to evaluate sunlight reflection technologies—including space-based sunshades— in the context of a wider suite of tools that make up a global climate response.

Morgan outlined the network of academics and civil society groups studying a wide range of Sunlight Reflection Methods (SRM). He encouraged sunshade discussions to build on the science and ethical frameworks already established, while bringing new capabilities to the SRM and larger climate efforts.

Highlights from the report:

A notable highlight of the event was the presentation of “The Earth Cup” -an open, peaceful, rules-based global solar sailing competition in space, modelled after the America’s Cup.

Designed to drive technological innovation and stimulate significant participation from both the private sector and governments, The Earth Cup seeks to promote inclusive international engagement while unlocking new economic and technological opportunities for all participating nations.

The dialogue also emphasized the interconnectedness of climate change, water, and sanitation, highlighting how shifting precipitation patterns, prolonged droughts,rising sea levels, and extreme weather events threaten water availability, quality, and sanitation systems.

Participants discussed the sector’s dual role as both highly vulnerable to climate impacts and a source of GHG emissions through wastewater treatment processes, infrastructure operations, and construction activities, underscoring the need for climate-smart solutions.

Meeting Recap:

The meeting opened with Ambassador Denis Antoine underscoring the urgency of rising seas, desertification, and extreme weather, and calling for public–private partnerships to advance new technological solutions. Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador, Anatolio Ndong Mba, emphasized the role of space technology in both monitoring climate change and developing strategies to mitigate its impacts.

Dr. Nabhit Kapur, Permanent Observer of the Pan African Agency for Water and Sanitation, emphasized technology’s role as a “game-changer.” He urged for responsible advances in technology to meet the need of the climate crisis and the Global South. Then Dr. Paul Abulo of the Connect the Earth Initiative stressed that satellite data is already a vital tool for climate resilience, enabling early warning systems and adaptive agriculture. He argued that access to technology should be democratic, calling for capacity-building, climate finance, and grassroots participation to ensure that vulnerable populations benefit.

Physicist and diplomat Dr. Allen Sessoms drew on the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, describing worsening aridity, water insecurity, and forced migration. He argued that without advanced technological interventions, food insecurity and instability could intensify dramatically, and urged scaling up monitoring and restoration technologies.

Dr. Alex Severinsky presented a thermodynamic and statistical analysis of global warming, concluding that natural feedbacks such as water vapor and ice melt are now amplifying human-driven warming. He projected up to 4°C of warming by 2100 under business-as-usual and recommended pairing emission reductions with space-based solar radiation management to slow dangerous feedback loops.

Astronaut Christer Fuglesang outlined how a large-scale sunshade near the Earth–Sun L1 point could reduce incoming solar radiation by 1 percent, potentially offsetting a degree of warming. He noted the scale and cost—measured in millions of tonnes of material and trillions of dollars—but argued that advances in launch systems like SpaceX’s Starship make such systems worth investigating.

Building on that, Dr. Chantal Cappelletti presented a roadmap for a precursor mission by 2040 to test essential technologies such as solar sail propulsion, materials durability, and orbital control. She proposed a three-stage path toward a functioning sunshade system by 2070, with lunar-based manufacturing playing a role in long-term feasibility. Dr. Ronald Sagdeev added that such systems would likely need to operate as coordinated constellations rather than single structures, with autonomous navigation and robust governance frameworks.

The session also included economic and governance perspectives. Dr. John Hassler described sunshades as a prudent “insurance policy” alongside carbon neutrality, while Christer Persson outlined financing models through public–private partnerships and innovative investment tools.

Walter Holemans and Eden Knapp showcased a hands-on demonstration of solar sail technology. They introduced standardized one-meter hexagonal sails designed for low-cost experimentation, with the goal of enabling universities and smaller companies to test propulsion concepts. Their roadmap included missions from low Earth orbit to interplanetary destinations, with projected cost reductions that could democratize access to space-based innovation and engage a broader STEM community.

Dr. Les Johnson, a longtime solar sail engineer, emphasized scaling up from small test missions to sunshade-sized deployments. He called for an international team of experts to define technical requirements for large-scale solar radiation management and highlighted the importance of building on lessons from decades of solar sail research.

Dr. Michael McDonald turned attention to governance and equity. He argued that building functional sunshade capacity would require international cooperation on a scale comparable to historic megaprojects, but must also avoid hierarchical models. The Earth Cup initiative, he explained, aims for an inclusive, multi-organizational framework that engages societies globally, with educational outreach as a central component.

Youth delegates including Dr. Victor Williams and Darren Negaeskin brought intergenerational perspectives, linking climate impacts to public health and emphasizing both the promise and risks of emerging technologies.

In Summary:

This UN meeting began by underscoring the urgency of the climate crisis from the perspective of the Global South. The meeting introduced the concept of a planetary sunshade as a tool to mitigate the warming, and called for more research into sunshade technology. And it closed with a specific plan, the Earth Cup solar sailing race. The Earth Cup would leverage brand prestige, just like Formula 1 or America’s Cup, to advance the technology needed.

The Planetary Sunshade Foundation applauds the organizers for bringing together such an esteemed and diverse meeting focused on the sunshade topic, and we hope to see the momentum continue.