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Environmental policy often delays addressing problems. This Perspective defines such 'stopgap measures', considers examples, and applies to solar geoengineering a new framework for assessing stopgaps.

Contemporary environmental policy is replete with measures that do not fully resolve a problem but are proposed instead to 'buy time' for the development of more-durable solutions. We define such measures as 'stopgap measures' and examine examples from wildfire risk management, hydrochlorofluorocarbon regulation and Colorado River water management. We introduce an analytical framework to assess stopgaps and apply this framework to solar geoengineering, a controversial stopgap for reducing emissions. Studying stopgaps as a distinct response to environmental crises can help us weigh their merits in comparison to alternative policy and management measures.