After more than a decade of outreach and building research capacity in the Global South, Degrees is now helping its grantees connect to policymakers.
From outreach meetings and workshops in the early days, to the launch of the Degrees Modelling Fund in 2018 and the Degrees Socio-Political Fund in 2024, Degrees has helped research capacity in solar radiation modification (SRM) grow rapidly in the Global South.
Degrees-funded researchers have published more than 30 scientific papers, investigating the impacts of SRM on climate across Africa, Asia, South America, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The next step is to bring these results out of the academic realm. Degrees aims to connect researchers with policymakers by supporting them to give briefings, contribute to reports and attend international discussions.
To start this process, Degrees recently brought on two new team members.
Anita Nzeh is our new Policy Engagement Manager. She has over 14 years of experience driving impact in international development across private, intergovernmental and non-profit sectors. Over the past five years, she has focused on advancing the effective governance for carbon dioxide removal and SRM.
She said: “The SRM discussion has really evolved, and this level of research, especially from the Global South, is necessary. It’s now about connecting the dots between the scientific findings and the policymaking space.
“And fortunately, because we have built the largest SRM research programme in the world, we can let policymakers know that they don’t have to start from scratch. We can say: ‘you’ve already got people in your country who are looking into this issue, and we can connect you with them’.”
Dr Marcos Regis da Silva is our new Policy Engagement Director. He was previously Executive Director of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), responsible for providing strategic advice to high-level policymakers and developing linkages between the IAI’s scientific agenda and global governance environmental frameworks.
He said: “Policies are best made with access to scientific information. The growing scientific capacity on SRM in the Global South will allow for the generation of information that reflects the regions’ concerns and priorities.
“Degrees remains neutral on whether SRM should ever be used, so we’re not asking policymakers to adopt a certain position or support a particular policy, but to realise they have their own experts they can draw on to understand the topic.”
Already, Anita has co-hosted Degrees’ first official side event at COP29 in Azerbaijan, which pulled together a panel of experts to discuss the future of SRM research and policy as the topic rises on the international agenda. She and Marcos are busy scoping out the next year of international events, including the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, and the Asia Pacific and Africa Climate Weeks.
