The EU’s €35 million Horizon Europe call includes a research topic worth about €10 million focused on solar radiation modification (SRM). Proposals are due Feb. 16, 2027. The topic is about building evidence and oversight capabilities—not testing or deploying technologies intended to reflect sunlight.
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What the call funds
SRM is an umbrella term for proposed approaches that could reflect more sunlight back into space, or allow more heat to escape, to produce a cooling effect. The potential effects and risks remain uncertain.
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The Horizon Europe topic, HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-04-11, seeks to strengthen capabilities to detect and monitor SRM-related research, innovation or deployment activity. It also calls for improved climate modelling to help attribute changes in Earth’s radiation balance to interventions, and for assessment of impacts on climate and ecosystems.
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In practical terms, detection and monitoring can help build a record of activity; modelling and attribution can help assess whether observed changes are linked to an intervention or have another explanation. These capabilities could inform oversight, but the call does not promise that every activity will be detected or prevented.
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Why the headline €35 million is not the SRM budget
The €35 million figure is the overall indicative budget for the relevant Horizon Europe call. The SRM topic is listed separately with an indicative contribution of around €10 million. The two figures refer to different funding scopes, so the full €35 million should not be described as funding for SRM monitoring alone.
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Applications for the SRM topic are due Feb. 16, 2027.
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What the topic rules out
The topic explicitly excludes SRM field experiments and technical or operational SRM research. It also says the funding must not be used to advocate, promote or support SRM development. Its focus is therefore on understanding activity and impacts, rather than conducting or enabling an intervention.
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That boundary matters in a wider debate over governance. The EU has previously funded work on SRM research governance, including questions about risks and how public authorities might oversee proposed field experiments.
5 A 2026 European Parliament briefing says there is no comprehensive international framework for regulating SRM and describes ongoing debate over governance and moratorium proposals.
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Research is not deployment—and not a substitute for emissions cuts
The European Commission’s scientific advisers have said responsible research into SRM’s impacts is needed, while warning that the technologies are not ready and cannot replace emissions reductions.
19 Their assessment also highlights uncertainty about possible risks and effects, including effects on climate and ecosystems.
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The call’s emphasis on detection and impact assessment sits within that distinction: studying possible activity and its consequences is not the same as authorising or carrying out deployment. Its restrictions on experiments and operational research define what this funding can support; they do not, by themselves, settle the broader governance debate.
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