SRM GOVERNANCE HORIZONS

Mapping the Forces That Could Shape SRM Trajectories

SRM Governance Horizons is DSG’s effort to examine the readiness of institutions and society for SRM, not assessed by technological capacity but by the civic and institutional ability to access information, exercise authority, uphold representation, and maintain legitimacy. Activities include tracking drivers and dynamics, cross-sector exchanges, and identifying gaps.

The program takes a big-picture view of what it means for society to be ready to engage with SRM. Readiness, in this context, means preserving meaningful collective choice before technological or political momentum begins to narrow the range of options.

It is about ensuring that decisions are not made by default or in crisis, but through informed, inclusive processes. Governance is more likely to be ready when authority is seen as legitimate, when monitoring systems can make unilateral actions visible, and when engagement begins early—while there is still time to shape direction, rather than simply respond to consequences.

Program Goals

  • Track the drivers, dynamics, and early warning indicators that are shaping SRM conversations while developing frameworks to show how forces may shape plausible futures and how separate drivers might interact. 
  • Examine how venture capital, intellectual property, and private experimentation shape SRM’s pace of research, framing, and ownership. 
  • Identify readiness gaps and co-develop tools through legal and policy research, participatory methods, narrative work, and cross-sector convenings.

All outputs will be anchored in justice and legitimacy, not technical roadmaps or deployment playbooks.

Core Focus Areas

Readiness Assessment and Future Tools

Use readiness criteria—information access, decision authority, representation, legitimacy, and the ability to slow or stop harmful trajectories—to assess governance strength.

Cross-Tech
Exchange

Collaborate with experts in other sectors to identify readiness failures, early warning signs, and adaptable governance mechanisms.

Private Power and Accountability

Analyze how venture capital logic and private-sector incentives shape SRM development. Identify governance tools that reinforce public oversight, transparency, and public-interest decision-making.

Intellectual
Property Mapping

Systematically analyze SRM-related patents and assess their implications for public access and governance.

Bolster Public
Governance

Convene legal scholars, civil society leaders, and governance experts to co-design equitable frameworks that strengthen public control and protect against unilateral or privatized SRM decisions.

Institutional Readiness and Legal Design

Develop legal safeguards and institutional structures capable of responding to SRM pressures in ways that uphold accountability and protect against power imbalances. This work supports legitimacy for whatever choices societies ultimately make.

None of these lines of work presumes or prepares for deployment; each is designed to secure legitimacy and accountability for whatever choices societies make.

Read about lessons from adjacent technologies that can be applied to SRM:

When Governance Lags: What Other Technologies Reveal About SRM

SRM is often described as unprecedented—and in many ways, it is. But across many high-stakes technologies, a familiar pattern emerges: capability advancing faster than governance systems are prepared to manage. This DSG series, part of the SRM Governance Horizons project, takes a big picture view of what it means for societies to be ready to consider SRM. Not whether governance will matter, but whether institutions and communities are ready for the pressures already shaping SRM today.
Read

First Comes the Science: What Gene Editing's Legitimacy Gap Reveals for SRM

As part of a series of cross-sector comparisons, DSG considers the parallels between gene editing, a field that experienced rapid innovation without substantial oversight, and solar geoengineering.
Read

From Taboo to Assumed: How Carbon Dioxide Removal Advanced Before Governance Could Keep Up and What It Means for SRM

As DSG’s cross-sector comparison series continues we examine the parallels between carbon dioxide removal and solar geoengineering, highlighting how, in both cases, governance has struggled to keep pace with advancing technologies.
Read

Interested in getting involved?