London climate war game tested a race into solar geoengineering

A London simulation showed how quickly climate-cooling research could turn into a contest between governments, NGOs, indigenous groups and tech companies.

A London climate simulation showed how hard it would be to slow a global rush into solar geoengineering, a technology meant to cool the planet but carrying major unknown risks. The exercise brought together about two dozen foreign-policy experts, scientists, military personnel, and former officials at Queen Mary University of London to role-play national governments, NGOs, indigenous groups, and tech companies. Colleen Golja, a climate researcher, said she had expected broad agreement on ethical research, but the game convinced her otherwise. The result matters for developers and companies because it highlights how fast climate-cooling research could become a geopolitical competition rather than a shared scientific project.