A group of international scientific, policy, and civil society organizations have announced the Solar Geoengineering Research Governance (SGRG) Platform, a new initiative intended to bring clarity, consistency, and public accountability to the governance of solar geoengineering research.
The platform will provide shared, voluntary tools to help research institutions demonstrate how decisions are made, risks are managed, and public concerns are addressed. It is being developed through a partnership that includes the Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering, the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Additional partners and participating institutions from laboratories and universities are expected to be announced as the initiative develops.
Solar geoengineering research is advancing amid growing concern about climate warming and associated impacts, while also facing increasing political scrutiny. Recent controversies surrounding attempted field experiments have highlighted the risks to public trust when research proceeds without legitimate governance structures. Although there is broad agreement that research in this field must meet standards for transparency, public engagement, scientific merit, and accountability, a common framework to apply those expectations consistently across institutions and borders has been lacking.
Rather than authorizing or prohibiting research, the SGRG Platform focuses on making governance practices visible, comparable, and easier to implement. The platform will co-develop tools and norms including a living Research Governance Charter establishing baseline expectations around transparency, engagement, scientific merit, conflicts of interest, and red lines; a public disclosure system documenting research plans, funding sources, engagement processes, and data commitments; engagement guidance incorporating evidence-based expectations and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent where Indigenous or directly affected communities are involved; independent scientific merit review options where no existing agency process applies; rapid-response protocols for changing scientific or political contexts; accountability frameworks addressing liability, risk management, intellectual property, and shared research outputs; and a research question database elevating questions raised by communities, policymakers, and civil society.
The tools are designed to apply proportionally across modeling, laboratory studies, and outdoor experiments, recognizing that governance needs differ by context while core principles remain consistent. Regional nodes will shape implementation across different contexts, with Global South institutions expected to play leadership roles. Funding sources and governance processes will be publicly disclosed, and core tools will be openly licensed.
Institutions aligning with SGRG practices will be able to demonstrate how governance expectations are being met, access outside expert review where needed, and draw on shared engagement guidance. The UK Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), currently the largest public funder of solar radiation modification research through the Exploring Climate Cooling program, has indicated plans to work collaboratively with SGRG and move toward becoming the first institutional adopter of the platform’s principles and practices.
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