• 2023.03.03 ｜

  Working Paper

  ｜

  No.14

  Masahiro Sugiyama, Assosiate Professor, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo
  Shinichiro Asayama, Senior Researcher, National Institute for Environmental Studies
  Takanobu Kosugi, Professor, College of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University
  Atsushi Ishii, Professor, Associate Professor, Tohoku University

Public attitudes to solar radiation modification:
Preliminary results of a two-scenario online survey on perception in four Asia-Pacific countries

Solar geoengineering, solar radiation modification (SRM), or climate engineering, is looming large as a potential response to human-induced climate change, but it is deeply mired in controversies surrounding environmental and societal risks. Given the high-stake, uncertain characteristic of SRM, it is essential to understand the public perceptions to facilitate public debates. Here we present the results of a 2022 online survey conducted in Australia, India, Japan, and the Philippines, in which we presented two SRM scenarios that differ in mitigation efforts and climate tipping points. The between-country differences in responses dominated the between-scenario differences.

The Indian and Philippine respondents were more concerned about climate change and more supportive of SRM than the Japanese and
Australian survey participants, which confirms the findings from an earlier, pre-pandemic survey with undergraduate students. The Indian and Philippine survey participants also tended to feel the future scenarios with SRM deployment more realistic. Despite these
differences, many voiced concerns about environmental and governance risks of SRM, implying the need for enlarging critical discussions on SRM governance.