As the world approaches 1.5°C, climate experts urge governments to fund research into stabilising Earth’s systems
As UNEP affirms overshoot is inevitable and Earth’s energy imbalance reaches its highest on record, a new Climate Crisis Advisory Group report sets out the case for government-led research into stabilising Earth's system, with the most climate-exposed countries as key collaborators.
Polling released shows cross-party support in the US and UK for government funding for research and development to manage the effects of an overheating planet
LONDON, NEW YORK and ANTALYA, 03 November 2026 – The Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG) called on governments to fund research into stabilising Earth’s systems, and to appoint a minister responsible for it.
The report, Stabilising Earth’s Systems: The case for research, leadership and preparedness in an age of overshoot, published ahead of COP31, argues a coalition of willing countries could accelerate action through well-governed research that foregrounds how stabilisation can support development. Earth is now trapping heat faster than at any point on record, and the coming decades, as warming peaks, will decide whether key Earth systems cross their tipping points, and that is what makes getting this research done now an imperative. The report is careful to stress this is a call for research, not deployment of any unproven solutions.
The report lays out two clear asks: invest in and rebuild the monitoring and modelling capabilities needed to track how much heat Earth is trapping and how close Earth systems are to tipping points; and deep research into frontier science options. That means possible large-scale carbon dioxide removal, and investigating solar radiation modification, such as marine cloud brightening and stratospheric aerosol injection. CCAG is emphatic, this is a call to study these options with strict, open governance, it must not be misconstrued as a call to deploy them. They contend the research is as valuable for ruling out technologies that prove to be too dangerous or ineffective as it is for identifying any that could safely help.
“There is not a corner of the planet that hasn’t experienced severe consequences of the climate crisis in the last twelve months, and this year's record summer will soon be the norm without real action. That means rapidly reducing all our emissions, methane in particular, and properly funding adaptation,” said Sir David King, Chair of CCAG.
“But we also owe it to people and the planet to explore other options so we fully understand what is available to us. Doing no research is not a neutral decision. Even at billions of dollars, research is a drop in the ocean compared to the GDP losses ahead.”
The call comes after August 2026 equalled the hottest month ever recorded, capping western Europe’s hottest summer on record. Earth is also reflecting less sunlight back into space, and the rate at which it traps heat roughly doubled between 2005 and 2019, faster than climate models expected. A decline in low cloud cover accounts for about half of the increase between 2003 and 2024. Systems long assumed stable are now in question, with the Atlantic circulation (AMOC) among those that may be approaching a catastrophic threshold.
The economic costs are already mounting: disasters cause over $200bn a year in direct losses, and more than $2.3tn a year once cascading and ecosystem costs are counted. On current policies, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries estimates the world risks losing around 50% of global GDP between 2070 and 2090.
Yet the satellites we rely on to monitor our planet and understand the risks we face are being cut back. Many climate models only go to 2100, whilst the consequences of our actions will last millennia. Research into how Earth’s systems might be stabilised remains fragmented and chronically underfunded despite polling that shows a strong appetite for this research on both sides of the Atlantic.
According to a survey of more than 15,000 adults in the US and UK conducted using Dynata’s first-party survey data, 76% of Britons and 71% of Americans back government funding for research into new ways to manage a warming planet, with majorities across party lines. Nearly two-thirds of Britons (64%) and Americans (59%) say exploring additional approaches should start immediately.
Other key polling findings include:
CCAG sets this research inside its 4R Planet Strategy of rapidly cutting emissions, removing greenhouse gases at scale, repairing damaged ecosystems and building resilience to climate shocks. Any solution must be safe, scalable and governed by agreed rules. For CCAG, researching new ways to stabilise Earth’s systems is basic risk management. Research that finds an approach ineffective or unsafe is valuable too because it helps stop bad actors acting recklessly.
The report also calls for:
For the first time in generations, the climate crisis threatens to push people back into poverty, with the World Bank warning that up to 100 million people could fall into extreme poverty by 2030.
“Many parts of Africa have never had the privilege of industrialisation or energy security, and now they bear the consequences of a crisis they did little to create and instabilities others set in motion. That is the real injustice,” Fatima Denton, CCAG Member and Founder of Resource Analytics for Future Africa (RAFA).
“But accountability alone will not prepare us. If we are serious about stabilising Earth’s systems, these regions cannot be recipients of decisions made elsewhere. As the most exposed, they have to help shape the research and the response. Africa can, and it must, but it needs the tools.”
Notes and sources
1. Overshoot: UN Environment Programme, Limiting Overshoot: Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return, September 2026. unep.org/en/publications/report/limiting-overshoot-navigating-exceedance-15degc-and-pathways-towards-return
2. 2026 temperature records: Copernicus Climate Change Service and NOAA; WMO confirmation that August 2026 was the warmest month on record.
3. Earth's energy imbalance: Loeb, N. G. et al., 'Satellite and Ocean Data Reveal Marked Increase in Earth's Heating Rate', Geophysical Research Letters, 2021 (NASA/NOAA): the imbalance roughly doubled between 2005 and 2019.
4. Declining reflectivity and AMOC risk: Climate Crisis Advisory Group, Stabilising Earth's Systems (2026), Part 1, and the sources cited therein.
5. Earth-observation capacity (NOAA satellite programme): CCAG, Stabilising Earth's Systems (2026), Part 2.
6. Disaster losses (over $200 billion a year; total costs over $2.3 trillion): CCAG, Stabilising Earth's Systems (2026), Part 4, and sources therein.
7. Economic tail risk: Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Planetary Solvency – finding our balance with nature, January 2025 (with the University of Exeter): current policies risk a loss of around 50% of global GDP between 2070 and 2090. actuaries.org.uk/media-release/current-climate-policies-risk-catastrophic-societal-and-economic-impacts
8. Poverty: up to 100 million people at risk of being pushed into extreme poverty by 2030 (World Bank), cited in CCAG, Stabilising Earth's Systems (2026), Part 4.
9. Santa Marta: first International Conference on the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, Santa Marta, Colombia, April 2026 (57 countries).
