About Us

Mission and Approach

The Crux Alliance was established in 2018 to support the rapid implementation of ambitious, cutting-edge climate policies. By using top-of-the-class, nonprofit organizations with deep policy design expertise, the Crux Alliance helps policymakers in the 20 highest-emitting countries to design carbon mitigation policies for the sectors critical to long-term climate stability. The Crux Alliance is comprised of six leading policy NGOs, each singularly focused on one of the highest-emitting energy sectors. Each ‘Crux Policy Center’ operates worldwide and in close partnership with local, in-country NGOs:

Appliances: CLASP
Buildings: The 
Global Building Performance Network (GBPN)
Industry: Agora Energiewende
Power: Agora Energiewende
Urban Mobility: The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
Vehicles and Fuel: The International Council for Clean Transportation (ICCT)

 The Crux Alliance is a philanthropic project housed at the Aspen Global Change Institute. A lean, expert Secretariat facilitates grantmaking and network engagement among the Crux Policy Centers and partners.

Insider Advocacy for Each Sector & Across Sectors

Each Crux Policy Center focuses on one sector and is led by experts who have decades of experience designing policies that truly deliver reductions of harmful emissions in that sector. These organizations can be understood as “insider advocates.” They have the expertise and relationships to support and gain the trust of policymakers while retaining the ability as independent NGOs to push for greater levels of ambition. The groups work with the responsible agencies, in country and in language, on every element of policy, from design through implementation. Each group has local staff, as well as local NGO partners, in the largest emitting regions around the world. 

Global & Local

By virtue of being both global and local, each organization can capture lessons from many jurisdictions, support peer-to-peer learning, achieve economies of scale in delivering best-practice strategies, and adapt to local circumstances.

Targeted at the Top-20 Emitters

Each Crux Policy Center begins with an analysis of the top-20 emitting countries in its sector, and then ranks those countries in terms of the political opportunity. As funding for the Alliance grows, each of the Crux Policy Centers is able to work in more of their top-20 countries and to deepen work in the countries they are already working in. Explore where the Alliance is supporting bolder climate policy in the map below.

Top 20 Global Energy Emitters Where Crux Works

Show Me: All Appliances Buildings Electricity Industry Urban Mobility Vehicles & Fuel