Our values and history

Our values

SRM is a very controversial topic

We believe that organisations working in this space should commit to high standards of integrity, transparency and good governance.

01 Neutrality

02 Commitment to mitigation

03 Inclusiveness

Degrees has been working for over a decade to ensure a more inclusive global conversation around SRM. We believe that such a conversation is essential if the world is to make informed and equitable decisions about SRM.
Our independent Board of Trustees includes a balance of North and South voices.
Strategic decisions are informed by expert advisors in the Global South and North.

04 Academic excellence

We aim to expand the discussion of SRM’s potential risks and benefits, taking account of science, social science and governance.
We will work to ensure that evaluation of SRM is informed by the best available evidence, and that it is analysed in the context, with impacts and implications compared both to today’s climate and to a warmed world.
Research funding decisions are made by an independent grants committee following an open call and peer review.
Research teams have full academic freedom.

Timeline

We have been building capacity in the Global South for 15 years

2010
2011
2015
2017
2021
2023
2025

First steps

The Degrees Initiative was launched in 2010 as the SRM Governance Initiative (SRMGI), a response to the Royal Society’s seminal Geoengineering the Climate report and partnership between Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Royal Society, and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). SRMGI convened an international working group of 28 academics and NGO representatives from 16 different countries to draft recommendations on the governance of SRM, but it was determined this would be premature. The 2011 SRMGI report outlined different governance considerations and possibilities.

Workshops around the world

SRMGI’s focus shifted to the Global South, and began work to internationalise the SRM discussion, initially running outreach meetings with local partner organisations in India, Pakistan and China. This was followed by a trio of meetings around Africa funded by the Inter-Academy Panel and delivered in partnership with the African Academy of Sciences. The model for our outreach workshops was established: the aim was to start well-informed conversations about SRM in the local climate community and to get participant ideas on any next steps in their countries or regions.

Expanded outreach

In 2015, a grant from Open Philanthropy allowed for a significant expansion of outreach activities, with workshops across the world’s developing regions. Participants said that they wanted local scientists to research the local impacts of SRM, while noting the absence of support for such work.

First grants

A further grant in 2017 allowed us to address this issue with the launch of the Degrees Modelling Fund (formerly DECIMALS), the world’s first SRM modelling fund aimed exclusively at the Global South. Since then, the DMF has profoundly changed the demographic of the field and Degrees has awarded over $3 million in research and travel grants for southern scientists. The design for the Degrees Modelling Fund was shaped by climate experts from across the Global South and some of the world’s leading SRM scientists. It was originally administered by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), and is now administered in-house. Following independent scientific review, in 2018 eight grants were awarded to teams from Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, and South Africa.

Expanded grants

In 2021, Degrees became a non-profit organization in the UK, giving it the foundation it needs to build on its proven model. Six of the original DMF teams were awarded continuation grants, and three new teams were awarded initial grants in Bangladesh, Kenya, and the Philippines.

New research directions

In 2023, the Degrees Initiative announced a doubling of SRM research in the Global South with 15 new teams awarded in Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa (x2), Thailand, and Uganda.  We launched the Degrees Socio-Political Fund in 2023 to help Southern researchers explore the social and political dimensions of SRM. It is the first fund aimed exclusively at researchers in developing countries and emerging economies to study SRM in the social sciences, including anthropology, economics, ethics, geography, law, political science, psychology, risk science, and sociology. Nine teams were awarded funding in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil (x2), Ghana, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

Growing community

In 2025, we held the Degrees Global Forum on SRM in Cape Town, South Africa. It was largest SRM conference to date, bringing together 300 researchers, NGO representatives, policymakers, thought leaders, and journalists from around the world to discuss the scientific, social, and political dimensions of SRM. We plan to host a Global Forum every two years.

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Annual reports and accounts

The Degrees Initiative has been registered at the Companies House and the Charity Commission for England and Wales since 2021.

Read our annual reports