[UNCLASSIFIED]
Ref: OIA 2024-034
Ben Watkins
[FYI request #28005 email]
03 September 2024
Tēnā koe Ben
Thank you for your request of 10 August 2024 seeking the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“Please provide any and all information known or held by your department in any and all formats,
including, but not limited to, documents, draft documents, reports, memos, letters, notes, electronic
communications, transcripts, visual presentations, photography, and video/audio recordings
containing information pertaining to geo-engineering, weather modification and Solar Radiation
Management/Mitigation (SRM) with particular emphasis on cloud seeding, marine cloud
brightening/engineering/seeding and Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI).
Additionally, please provide any and all information known or held by your department in any and
all formats, including, but not limited to, documents, draft documents, reports, memos, letters,
notes, electronic communications, transcripts, visual presentations, photography, and video/audio
recordings containing information pertaining to barium, nano aluminium-coated fibreglass (known
as chaff), radioactive thorium, cadmium, chromium, copper sulphate, nickel, strontium, graphene,
desiccated blood, mould spores, yel ow fungal mycotoxins, ethylene dibromide and polymer fibres
with relation to their uses, or potential uses, in geo-engineering, weather modification, Solar
Radiation Management/Mitigation, cloud seeding and Stratospheric Aerosol Injection.
And Finally, please provide any and all information known or held by your department in any and all
formats, including, but not limited to, documents, draft documents, reports, memos, letters, notes,
electronic communications, transcripts, visual presentations, photography, and video/audio
recordings containing information pertaining to any mention of smart particles, nano machines,
nano aerosols, nano-particulates or nano-sized aluminium particles with relationship, if any, to geo-
engineering, weather modification, Solar Radiation Management/Mitigation, cloud seeding and
Stratospheric Aerosol Injection.”
The Climate Change Commission has considered your request in accordance with the Act.
It may be helpful for you to know that with respect to the mitigation of climate change, the Commission is
required (under the Climate Change Response Act 2002) to give advice relating to reductions in greenhouse
[UNCLASSIFIED]
[UNCLASSIFIED]
gas emissions. As a result, this is the focus of our analysis and advice to Government, and we do not
proactively research nor advise on geoengineering techniques in our mandated work.
Response
The information you seek is publicly available on our website.
In 2021 and 2022, the Commission responded to previous requests under the Act asking for very similar
information, both of which are available on our website and can be found
here a
nd here.
In addition to the information provided in these 2021 and 2022 requests, further information relating to
the scope of your request can also be found on our website:
• There is a single-sentence reference to geo-engineering in the discussion document “Review of the
2050 Emissions Reduction Target”, available
here. It states,
“Other factors that can be
unpredictable and difficult to assess include events like volcanic eruptions and geo-engineering
activities”. This statement was informed by th
e IPCC AR6.
• There is also one reference to ‘inadvertent geo-engineering' in the discussion document “Review of
inclusion of emissions from international shipping and aviation in 2050 target”, available
here. It
states “
The pol ution from ships can also have an impact on marine clouds, increasing their droplet
count and making them longer-lived and more reflective. This greater reflection has a net cooling
effect”. This statement was informed by th
e IPCC AR3 and published scientific papers.
• Public submissions received by the Commission in relation to our draft advice cover a range of
topics. The public submissions published on our website can be foun
d here.
As the information you have requested can be found in documents that are publicly available, we rely on
section 18(d) of the Act to support our decision to not supply it to you directly.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of this response by the Office of the Ombudsman, in
accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. Contact details for the Ombudsman can be found on their website
at:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
Please note that the Commission proactively releases its responses to requests made under the Act. This is
to help ensure others can also have access to this information. As such, this letter wil shortly be published
on our website with your name and contact details redacted to protect your privacy.
Nāku noa, nā
Astrid Nunns
General Manager, Strategic Operations
[UNCLASSIFIED]
