Janos Pasztor: Solar Radiation Modification and Our Future

This episode of Climate Emergency Forum features a wide‑ranging conversation with Janos Pasztor, former UN Assistant Secretary‑General for Climate Change and founding director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G). We explore how decades of climate diplomacy led him into the controversial world of solar radiation modification (SRM) and his recent work engaging directly with private actors like Stardust that are developing stratospheric aerosol injection technologies.

This video was recorded on April 29th, 2026, and published on May 3rd, 2026, and represents the opinions of the discussion participants.

Janos explains what SRM actually is, why some scientists and policymakers think we may need to consider planetary‑scale cooling alongside rapid emissions cuts and carbon removal, and why robust global governance has to come before any serious deployment. We discuss bottom‑up initiatives as well as the political and ethical barriers that keep leaders from even talking about these options in public.

In the Climate 3 segment, Herb highlights the emerging legal landscape after the International Court of Justice’s climate opinion, including a new open letter from more than 250 legal experts to the Santa Marta conference in Colombia arguing that phasing out fossil fuels is now a clear obligation under international law. Together, these stories show how science, law, and governance are colliding in real time as the world struggles to respond to an accelerating climate crisis.

Links:

• Support Our Mission

• A Polar Ice Scientist: Peter Wadhams’ Journey (CEF Video)

• A Climate Advisor: Sir David King’s Journey (CEF Video)

• The Brundtland Commission

• Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative

• Stardust Solutions

• Paris Agreement

• Devastation in Pakistan - Inside the Monsoon Floods (CEF Video)

• Marine Cloud Brightening (CEF Video)

• COP30: Climate Hope Through Plankton Power (CEF Video)

• Reflective

• Silver Lining

• Make Sunsets

• Beijing Normal University

• Are We Near the AMOC Tipping Point? (CEF Video)

• Climate Restoration Alliance

• Oceanry

• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

• Kyoto Protocol

• Munchausen Syndrome

• Ariel method

• The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG)

• Understanding and addressing “chemtrails” - Holly Jean Buck

• Non-CO2 Emissions and Effects

• Global aviation contrail climate effects from 2019 to 2021

• Governance Recommendations for the For-Profit SAI Starup “Stardust”

• Reach for the Stardust? Former Israel Atomic Energy Commission Atomic official leads controversial geoengineering start-up

• Heatwaves Constrain the Future Persistence of Mosquito Vectors in Europe

• New Records Set in the Renewable Energy Marathon

• Santa Marta: Key outcomes from first summit on ‘transitioning away’ from fossil fuels

• Charting the Path to a Fossil-Free Future in Santa Marta and Beyond: What the Conference Must Deliver

• World Court Ruling Amid U.S. Climate Retreat (CEF Video)

Special Guests

• Janos Pasztor - is a climate and sustainability leader with over four decades of experience in global energy, environment, and climate diplomacy. He is a former UN Assistant Secretary‑General and Senior Adviser to Secretary‑General Ban Ki‑moon on climate change, and later served as Executive Director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G), focusing on the ethics and governance of emerging climate‑altering technologies, including solar radiation modification.

Regular Panelists:

• Paul Beckwith - Climate Systems Scientist. Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Paleoclimatology Laboratory as well as at Carleton University

• Herb Simmens - Author, Co-founder of the Healthy Planet Action Coalition (HPAC), Climate Emergency Board Member and former college instructor.

Video Production:

• Charles Gregoire - Electrical Engineer, Webmaster and IT prime for FacingFuture.Earth & the Climate Emergency Forum; Climate Reality Leader

• Heidi Brault - Climate Reality Leader, BA(Psychology), Library & Information Technician Diploma - Video production and website assistant - Organizer and convener, Metadata technician, COP Team Lead for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum.

Attributions:

Background Music:

• Title: Through the City II
• Author: Crowander
• Source: crowander.com

Image and Video:

• Image and Video Attributions