Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering: Grantee Spotlight (2025)

Grantee spotlight: The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG)

The Giving Green Fund plans to award a grant to The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG) to support their work on capacity-building and governance on solar radiation modification (SRM). DSG is a global nonprofit that elevates the voices of climate vulnerable communities and countries in SRM decision-making.

DSG’s work falls within our philanthropic strategy of advancing solar radiation management (SRM) governance. We recognize the significant uncertainties surrounding SRM and believe its deployment should be considered carefully and inclusively. The complexity and interconnectedness of Earth’s natural systems make it difficult to predict how SRM effects would manifest and to what extent 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: October 2025

What is The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering?

DSG was established in 2023 with the mission to empower civil society and decision-makers to engage in SRM policy. As climate-vulnerable countries are often sidelined, DSG puts their perspectives at the center of the conversation. DSG actively builds relationships with partners on the ground and engages with climate-vulnerable communities across Southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, the Arctic, and the United States.

DSG does not advocate for or against solar geoengineering deployment but aims to create inclusive and participatory governance for decision-making on research and potential deployment. 

What are we funding, and how could it help address climate change?

We are providing general operating support to DSG to cover staff salaries, workshops and convenings, and communications. In particular, DSG expects to use Giving Green’s grant to expand or build (a subset of) the following activities:

• Global engagement: DSG engages with local stakeholders including civil society, academia, and policymakers to build relationships and networks and lay the groundwork for SRM conversations.
• Governance infrastructure: DSG is in the early stages of building a Solar Geoengineering Research Governance Consortium, focused on baseline research standards, simple transparency norms, and independent review pathways.
• Journalist capacity building: DSG plans to launch and maintain a journalist capacity building program in initial pilot areas to build workshops, short courses, and practical tip sheets for newsrooms in the U.S. and Africa.
• Learning resources and translation: DSG will maintain and grow their open Learning Resources library by working on translations and distribution.

We believe that DSG’s work in civil society capacity building, public engagement, and international collaboration can lead to more inclusive and participatory decision-making around SRM. Strengthening governance is necessary to enable responsible and transparent research and to mitigate risks associated with SRM. Inclusive and participatory governance frameworks can ensure accountability to climate-vulnerable countries in SRM-related decisions.

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Why do we think The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering will use this funding well?

Given that DSG is a nascent organization, we believe catalytic funding is crucial to supporting its work and the broader underfunded SRM governance field. 

DSG has demonstrated several wins demonstrating its potential to be a leading organization in setting up governance frameworks. Since we previously supported DSG one year ago, the organization has convened several workshops for audiences from Southern Africa, the Americas, and the U.S., in addition to multiple sessions at the Degrees Global Forum. DSG's ongoing efforts to expand partnerships and geographies indicate an exciting trajectory for broader impact.

Giving Green believes that additional climate donations are likely to be most impactful when directed to our top nonprofits. For several reasons, we may choose to recommend grants to other organizations for work that we believe is at least as impactful as grants to our top recommendations. We are highlighting this grant to offer transparency to donors to the Giving Green Fund, as well as to provide a resource for donors who are particularly interested in this impact strategy. This is a nonpartisan analysis (study or research) and is provided for educational purposes.

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