The SRM Research Governance Initiative (SRMGI) was convened by a partnership of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Royal Society, and TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world. The project was launched in March 2010 in response to the 2009 Royal Society report Geoengineering the climate. That report concluded that geoengineering is not an alternative to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but that it might be the only option to reduce rising global temperatures quickly. It emphasised the importance of good governance, and the need for international partners to work together on this matter.

SRMGI activities to date have included:

• The establishment of an expert working group and large network of stakeholder partner organisations
• The first SRMGI conference, held in March 2011 at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre in the UK
• The publication of the SRMGI report in December 2011
• Further meetings in Pakistan, India, China and Senegal, South Africa, and Ethiopia.

"We are clear that serious consideration for the regulatory arrangements for geoengineering needs to start now, not once highly disruptive climate change is under way."UK Parliament response to a House of Commons report on geoengineering