In recent years, some scientists have called for research into and potential development of ‘solar geoengineering’ technologies as an option to counter global warming. Solar geoengineering refers to a set of speculative techniques to reflect some incoming sunlight back into space, for example, by continuously spraying reflective sulphur aerosols into the stratosphere over several generations. Because of the significant ecological, social, and political risks posed by such technologies, many scholars and civil society organizations have urged governments to take action to prohibit the development and deployment of solar geoengineering techniques. In this article we take such calls for a prohibitory or a non-use regime on solar geoengineering as a starting point to examine existing international law and governance precedents that could guide the development of such a regime. The precedents we examine include international prohibitory and restrictive regimes that impose bans or restrictions on chemical weapons, biological weapons, weather modification technologies, anti-personnel landmines, substances that deplete the ozone layer, trade in hazardous wastes, deep seabed mining, and mining in Antarctica. We also assess emerging norms and soft law in anticipatory governance of novel technologies, such as human cloning and gene editing. While there is no blueprint for a solar geoengineering non-use regime in international law, our analysis points to numerous specific elements on which governments could draw to constrain or impose an outright prohibition on the development of technologies for solar geoengineering, should they opt to do so.

近年来，一些科学家呼吁研究和潜在开发“太阳能地球工程”技术，作为应对全球变暖的一种选择。太阳能地球工程是指将一些入射阳光反射回太空的一系列推测技术，例如，通过几代人的时间不断地将反射性硫气溶胶喷洒到平流层中。由于此类技术带来重大的生态、社会和政治风险，许多学者和民间社会组织敦促各国政府采取行动，禁止太阳能地球工程技术的开发和部署。在本文中，我们以对太阳能地球工程禁止或不使用制度的呼吁为起点，研究可以指导此类制度发展的现有国际法和治理先例。我们研究的先例包括禁止或限制化学武器、生物武器、人工影响天气技术、杀伤人员地雷、消耗臭氧层物质、危险废物贸易、深海海底采矿和采矿业的国际禁止和限制制度。南极洲。我们还评估人类克隆和基因编辑等新技术的预期治理中的新兴规范和软法律。虽然国际法中没有太阳能地球工程不使用制度的蓝图，但我们的分析指出了许多具体要素，如果政府选择这样做，它们可以利用这些要素来限制或彻底禁止太阳能地球工程技术的开发所以。