FOR an organisation that claims to be committed to tackling climate change, Greenpeace seems strangely suspicious of new technologies designed to do just that.
Last week Britain's Royal Society - one of the most prestigious scientific bodies in the world - published a report arguing that it is "feasible" to "engineer the Earth" in order to offset the worst impacts of climate change.
For example, we might inject a swarm of mirrors into space over the next 30 years to deflect some of the sun's rays from the Earth. Or we could build a "space parasol" made of super-fine aluminium mesh to keep our planet cool. Or we might erect giant "CO2 scrubbers" that would clean the Earth's air on a daily basis.
The Royal Society said there are uncertainties about the effectiveness and the costs of such geo-engineering projects. But many of them are "technically possible", and research funding should be made available immediately.
How did Greenpeace react to the report? It rubbished the whole idea.
Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said "intervening in our planet's systems carries huge risks". What's more, it's irresponsible to talk about big solutions to climate change, he said, because the "fossil fuel lobby" will cynically "use the idea of geo-engineering to undermine the emissions reductions we can do safely". Read more.