Held in Ithaca, New York, the 2024 GeoMIP meeting marked a significant milestone with the participation of fourteen Degrees-funded climate modellers from across the Global South. This gathering boasted the highest attendance of developing country scientists in the history of GeoMIP workshops, surpassing last year’s record set in Exeter and achieved through the close collaboration of Degrees and GeoMIP organisers. GeoMIP, short for Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project, is an international initiative that unites the global modelling community working on solar radiation modification (SRM). The project aims to standardise climate models to better inform the scientific community, policymakers, and the public about the potential impacts of SRM.
This year, it was evident that Global South scientists were not only contributing to the conversation but also playing pivotal roles throughout the agenda. Topics of particular interest to scientists from developing countries, such as downscaling, bias correction, and improving data access, which were highlighted at last year’s GeoMIP, were centre stage in discussions at Ithaca. Degrees-funded teams shared their results and insights through presentations and poster sessions and moderated breakout groups on key topics. Chris Lennard, a Degrees research collaborator and principal investigator for the 2018 South Africa team, delivered a compelling presentation during the opening session. He emphasised the need to promote African science within GeoMIP and beyond. He outlined the imbalance in resources and set out plans for establishing an African research collaboration to develop a robust, well-resourced, and home-grown voice in the global SRM.
Temitope Egbebiyi, a scientist involved with the Nigeria and South Africa-based Degrees-funded teams, moderated a breakout session on bias correction and downscaling—a critical area for Global South scientists focusing on SRM’s potential impacts. Other breakout sessions covered a wide range of topics, including emulators, polar region deployment techniques, and policy-relevant research. Each was summarised in plenary sessions the following day, fostering broad engagement and active discussion. Inés Camilloni and Romaric Odoulami, from the Argentina and South African Degrees-funded teams respectively, presented their current research to the group. Degrees’ Chair of the Board of Trustees, Oliver Morton, delivered a public keynote talk titled ‘Carl Sagan, the Climate Crisis, and Planetary’. Additionally, a number of Degrees scientists showcased their work during multiple poster sessions over the three days.
The 2024 GeoMIP meeting generated productive conversations that will shape the future design of climate models and the structure of this growing and increasingly global community of SRM modelling experts. The presence of such a diverse group, filled with Degrees-funded scientists from across the Global South, friends, and volunteers, highlighted the full extent of the community’s progress. Looking ahead to 2025, the next GeoMIP meeting will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, concurrently with the Degrees Global Forum. The successes of this year’s GeoMIP and the upcoming Degrees Global Forum 2025 in Africa demonstrate that the centre of the SRM conversation is shifting towards the Global South. We would like to thank the GeoMIP organisers, Daniele Visioni and Alan Robock, both Degrees research collaborators, for their efforts in supporting so many scientists from developing countries to attend.
