DSG is a US-based nonprofit dedicated to fostering just and inclusive deliberation about solar geoengineering (also called solar radiation modification or SRM) research and potential future use. As a non-advocacy organization dedicated to SRM governance, we take no position for or against SRM deployment. Our work focuses on building the governance capacity, regional partnerships, and inclusive engagement frameworks necessary for any decisions about SRM — whether to pursue it, limit it, or govern it — to be made legitimately. We work across Latin America, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and globally. With global deliberations on solar geoengineering accelerating, DSG’s Policy Program works to ensure that governance structures reflect diverse voices and are built on transparency, equity, and scientific integrity.

Research governance for SRM is not a bureaucratic add-on — it is what makes research credible, publicly trustworthy, and ultimately useful for decision-making. The UK's ARIA Exploring Climate Cooling programme represents a significant and consequential public investment. Whether that investment produces knowledge the world can rely on depends substantially on whether the governance infrastructure around it is robust, inclusive, and internationally legible.

DSG's position is that:

• SRM research governance and deployment governance are distinct and must be developed separately, with different actors, processes, and standards.
• Small-scale, bounded outdoor experiments can be conducted responsibly, but require proactive, standardized governance — not case-by-case improvisation.
• Credible SRM research governance depends on meaningful engagement with affected communities — early, substantive, and proportionate to the nature of the research. Done well, it produces sharper research questions, more legitimate processes, and findings policymakers can act on
• A blanket research prohibition is neither achievable nor desirable: it risks pushing activity into private and unaccountable spaces while foreclosing the evidence base needed for informed collective choice.