FOI release

FOI2025/00692: Communication & Funding between UKRI and ARIA

This request was refused in part, so we didn't provide some of the information the requester asked for. This may include information where we can neither confirm nor deny that we hold it.

Case reference FOI2025/00692

Received 31 July 2025

Published 2 December 2025

Request

Request Received: 31 July 2025

Following your response indicating that my original request was directed at ARIA as an organisation, I am submitting a revised request focusing on UKRI’s own involvement with ARIA.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I request the following:

1. All communications (emails, meeting minutes, briefings, memos) between UKRI and ARIA staff, officials, or associated organisations concerning: The Exploring Climate Cooling programme Any projects relating to geoengineering, atmospheric intervention, or solar radiation management (SRM)

2. Details of any funding, grants, partnerships, or contractual arrangements between UKRI and ARIA since January 2020, especially relating to climate manipulation or climate research.

3. Internal UKRI discussions referencing ARIA’s role in experimental climate control, weather modification, or balloon-based research trials.

Clarification Received: 13 August 2025

1. All email correspondence (including attachments) between UKRI and ARIA, dated 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2025, containing either of the following terms:

“Exploring Climate Cooling"

“SPICE" (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering)

This search should include all correspondence that contains these terms in any part of the email or attachment, including draft documents, internal discussions, and working papers.

Response

Response Sent: 23 October 2025

Full details of the response are contained in the attached documents.

Documents

• FOI2025_00692 Annex 1 - ECC_Redacted.pdf (2.4 MB)
• FOI2025_00692 Annex 2 - ECC_Redacted.pdf (4.3 MB)
• FOI2025_00692 Annex 3 - ECC_Redacted.pdf (4.2 MB)
• FOI2025_00692 Annex 4 - ECC_Redacted.pdf (13.1 MB)
• FOI2025_00692 Annex 5 - SPICE_Redacted.pdf (1.0 MB)
• FOI_Response_Letter - FOI2025_00692_Redacted.pdf (320.3 KB)

This is UK Research and Innovation's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.