Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG): Grantee Spotlight (Q3 2026)

The Giving Green Fund is awarding a restricted grant to the Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG) for organizational capacity. DSG is a global nonprofit organization working toward just and inclusive deliberation on research into, and the potential use of, solar radiation modification (SRM).

DSG’s work falls within our philanthropic strategy of advancing solar radiation modification (SRM) governance and research, and, more specifically, within our sub-strategies of building research governance and coordination infrastructure and strengthening low- and middle-income countries’ (LMICs) capacity to shape SRM research and governance. We recognize the significant uncertainties surrounding SRM and believe we should consider its (non-)deployment carefully and inclusively. The complexity and interconnectedness of Earth’s natural systems make it difficult to predict how SRM effects would manifest and how much we could mitigate them. Please see Giving Green’s strategy report for more information, including potential risks and co-benefits, recommended sub-strategies, theory of change, funding need, and key uncertainties.

Last updated: September 2026

What Is the Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG)?

The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG) was established in 2023 to empower civil society and decision-makers to engage in SRM policy. Because climate-vulnerable countries are often sidelined, DSG puts their perspectives at the center of the conversation. DSG engages globally, with a particular focus on climate-vulnerable regions including Latin America and the Caribbean, Pacific Small Island Developing States, South and Southeast Asia, and Africa.

DSG does not advocate for or against solar geoengineering deployment, but aims to create inclusive, participatory governance for decision-making on research and potential (non-)deployment. To achieve this objective, DSG carries out the following activities:

• Advancing Global Cooperation: DSG engages local stakeholders, including civil society, academia, and policymakers, to build relationships and networks and lay the groundwork for SRM conversations.
• Youth Engagement: DSG believes youth are central to future SRM decision-making and works to increase youth awareness and participation. It hosts workshops and dialogues with youth activists and young leaders, shares SRM resources, and facilitates discussions to shape research questions and governance.
• Policy: DSG works closely with stakeholders in climate-vulnerable communities on governance processes and encourages engagement in SRM policy.
• Research Governance: DSG co-developed the Solar Geoengineering Research Governance (SGRG) platform, a voluntary framework that provides governance infrastructure for use now, while broader political deliberation continues.
• Research: DSG contributes to the literature in social and physical sciences.
• Communications: DSG engages with journalists to build their capacity and help advance nuanced messaging and framing around SRM.

What Are We Funding, and How Could It Help Address Climate Change?

SRM is a set of hypothetical climate interventions that would cool the planet by reflecting sunlight and reducing the energy the Earth absorbs. Decisions about whether to deploy SRM would carry profound consequences, whatever the outcome. Ensuring those decisions are informed by robust evidence, transparent governance, and meaningful public participation is therefore in the public interest. We think the governance and research infrastructure built now will shape how future societies evaluate SRM, and whether any future decisions are made in ways that serve rather than disadvantage climate-vulnerable populations.

DSG's work builds the civil society capacity, cross-country relationships, and shared governance norms that make transparent, accountable SRM decision-making more likely. Its mission depends as much on organizational stability as on programmatic activity. We think its role in leading efforts like SGRG rests largely on the relationships and credibility its senior leaders have built individually, which only they can maintain and extend. To that end, we are funding DSG’s organizational capacity. Specifically, our grant will support two new hires, enabling DSG’s leadership to spend more time on strategy, governance, and fundraising rather than administrative and coordination work.

A central risk of SRM research is moral hazard: the risk that policymakers and other actors treat SRM as a substitute for mitigation rather than a last-resort tool. DSG integrates concern around moral hazard throughout its work. Its communications consistently frame SRM as not an alternative to mitigation, adaptation, or carbon removal, but as a potential complement to the broader climate response portfolio. Its engagement work grounds participants in the broader climate context before introducing SRM and treats non-deployment as a live, legitimate option; DSG itself takes no position on deployment. DSG’s governance infrastructure keeps research and deployment as distinct questions, so that funding research cannot be read as a signal that deployment is coming. We think these practices reduce the risk that DSG’s work is read as a reason to deprioritize mitigation.

Why Do We Think DSG Will Use This Funding Well?

Since our last grant, DSG has executed and expanded its activities strongly. For example, in 2026, it partnered with the University of Cape Town and the U.K.'s Advanced Research and Invention Agency to convene African researchers, civil society, and community-based organizations around locally relevant research priorities. It has expanded its regional engagement into India, Sri Lanka, Francophone West and Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. DSG also launched the SGRG platform alongside the Natural Resources Defense Council, American Geophysical Union, and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water. SGRG was anchored by an inaugural Founding Convening that brought together more than 50 stakeholders, which we saw as a significant early milestone for a governance effort still being co-developed. Taken together, we see an organization that continues to translate funding into concrete, credible activity across an increasing number of regions and partners.

We publish grant spotlights to offer transparency to Giving Green Fund donors and resources for those interested in the impact strategies each grant supports. Giving Green believes our Top Climate Nonprofits have the greatest impact potential for large, unrestricted gifts. For several reasons, we also disburse and recommend grants to other organizations surfaced through our research process for work that we believe is at least as impactful as grants to our top recommendations. 

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This is a non-partisan analysis (study or research) and is provided for educational purposes.

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DSG is a registered nonprofit in the U.S.