Giving Green Recommends Philanthropic Strategies for SRM

Giving Green is a guide for individuals and businesses to make more effective climate-giving decisions. We perform transparent, rigorous research and recommend highly effective climate initiatives so that donors can give with confidence.

2024 was the first year that Giving Green conducted deep research on SRM. Our research led us to the conclusion that efforts to build international, inclusive, and collaborative governance and policy frameworks may help reduce the likelihood of unregulated deployment while enabling responsible research to advance our understanding of whether SRM could be a viable strategy to protect the most vulnerable. We think that civil society engagement in the coming years is particularly crucial for building these frameworks and growing the capacity for more informed decision-making around SRM.

Nonprofits, and the funders who support them, have a critical role to play in SRM. We identified the following pathways as potential strategies for nonprofit engagement in the SRM space.¹

1. Coordinating and conducting research around key knowledge gaps and working with the scientific community to develop a research agenda and conduct modeling and/or outdoor experiments.
2. Research capacity building to advance the expertise and understanding of SRM in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), through training, knowledge and technology transfers, conferences, and international exchange.
3. Nonprofit capacity building and public engagement in LMICs to build up public awareness and discourse around the scientific and environmental justice aspects of SRM.
4. Policy advocacy for research in High-Income Countries (HICs) through engaging with policymakers, advocating for regulatory structures, federal funding, and advancing social support around outdoor research.
5. Advancing international collaboration and governance frameworks to set up transparent, inclusive, and coordinated global research agendas, regulatory frameworks, and forums for discussion and decision-making around SRM.

We evaluated the sub-strategies mentioned above based on our understanding of their scope for impact, feasibility, and funding need (see our research process for more information). We decided to focus on the following:

• Nonprofit capacity building and public engagement in LMICs,
• Advancing international collaboration and governance frameworks, and
• Policy advocacy for research in HICs.

We believe that strengthening governance is necessary to enable responsible research and mitigate risks associated with SRM. In addition, it will be crucial to build the capacity of policymakers so they can engage with this topic, advance science-based communication around SRM, and advocate for the inclusion of SRM in political agendas (both domestically and internationally).

While we expect governments to be the core funders of SRM research, we think that they are less likely to fund other important areas, such as capacity building in LMICs and public engagement more generally. We also believe that, while international collaboration is critical, it could be neglected by nationally focused government funding efforts. As such, we believe that philanthropy has an important role to play in supporting these types of initiatives.

We have observed that philanthropic interest in SRM has increased in recent years. Based on a preliminary assessment of publicly available data, we estimate that research in HICs is significantly better funded than research in LMICs or work towards international governance. Broadly, we think the SRM sector is capable of absorbing more philanthropic funding, especially to support governance, policy advocacy, and other capacity-building initiatives. However, it’s important to note that, while funding gaps remain within SRM, the overall funding need may be comparatively lower than that of other climate interventions or mitigation strategies, e.g., decarbonizing heavy industry.

Every year, Giving Green curates a list of Top Nonprofits featuring highly effective nonprofits tackling climate mitigation on a systemic level. Earlier this summer, we received a substantial anonymous donation to our fund, enabling us to make smaller, one-time-grants funding a broader range of high-impact projects. We are awarding grants to two organizations in SRM, described below.

Giving Green is awarding a $200,000 grant to The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG) to build governance capacity and policy engagement, support the creation of civil-society groups, and facilitate global collaboration on SRM, particularly in climate-vulnerable regions. DSG is a global nonprofit organization working towards just and inclusive deliberation for research on and the potential use of SRM. For more information, see our grant write-up.

Giving Green is also awarding a $100,000 grant to The International Center for Future Generations (ICFG) to examine future possibilities and global governance needs associated with hypothetical SRM deployment and resulting geopolitical, socio-economic, and environmental implications. ICFG is a Brussels-based think tank that supports decision-makers in governing societal impacts of rapid technological change, specifically focusing on advanced AI, neurotechnology, climate interventions (including SRM), biotechnology, and quantum computing. For more information, see our grant write-up.

Giving Green promotes transparency in philanthropy, and we think transparency of decision-making and funding streams is particularly important in the context of controversial topics such as SRM. Our full SRM report assesses different nonprofit strategies, illustrates and evaluates a theory of change for nonprofit impact, analyzes the funding landscape and trends, presents risks and potential co-benefits, and articulates key uncertainties. Ultimately, we recognize the significant uncertainties surrounding SRM and believe its deployment should be considered carefully and inclusively.

The views expressed by Perspective writers are their own and are not necessarily endorsed by SRM360. The goal of our Perspectives is to present ideas from diverse viewpoints, further supporting informed discussion of sunlight reflection methods.