Geoengineering and list of chemicals released into Scottish airspace: EIR release

Information requested

1. List of chemicals released into UK or Scottish airspace over the last ten (10) years for purposes including, but not limited to, geoengineering, cloud seeding, solar radiation management, or other climate manipulation experiments.

2. Copies of agreements, contracts, or MOUs allowing for stratospheric aerosol injection or other aerial activities that affect weather, visibility, sunlight, or air quality.

3. Flight schedules, authorisations, or logs detailing aircraft activity where chemical or particulate dispersal occurred, whether under civil, military, or third-party authority.

4. Internal reports, scientific studies, or environmental assessments held or commissioned by your office or affiliates on weather modification technologies or operations within the United Kingdom.

5. Any correspondence or submissions from bodies such as NATS, DEFRA, BEIS, Transport Scotland, or foreign government/military agencies relating to geoengineering over the UK.

Response

In relation to parts 1-4, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information on Geoengineering, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

In relation to scheduled flights, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the regulator of UK civil aviation and is responsible for the planning and regulation of all UK airspace. You may wish to contact the CAA through their web site at: https://www.caa.co.uk/Our-work/Information-requests/Make-an-enquiry/ who may be able to help you

In relation to part 5 for Transport Scotland, I enclose a copy of some of the information you have requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exception under section 11(2) (Personal Details) of FOISA applies to that information. The reason why this exception is applied is explained in the Annex to this letter.

Annex

Reasons for not providing information

An exception applies

An exception under section 11 (2) (personal information) applies to some of the information requested.
Information has been redacted under Regulation 11 (Personal Data), as it contains personal information and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and in Section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the ‘public interest test’.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500464585 - Information Released - Annex

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