The world may increasingly look to geoengineering in the wake of the latest UN climate report, which says it could be adopted as a temporary “remedial measure” if the world heads towards dangerous levels of warming.

The authors of the new 1.5C study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say there is high agreement that the injection of millions of tonnes of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere could help limit temperature rises to the most ambitious target of the Paris accord.

But the authors warn there are major uncertainties about the social, environmental and ecological impacts, which mean the world would be far better off if policymakers strengthened natural cooling systems such as forest cover and accelerated efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

The lengthy document – which was approved at the weekend by all 195 nations in the UN – mentions several options for man-made interference in climate systems, including ocean fertilisation, carbon dioxide removal, marine cloud brightening, cirrus cloud thinning and ground-based albedo modification.