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 an NGO lead for each of the highest-emitting energy sectors. These Crux Policy Centers (CPCs) operate worldwide and address the following sectors:

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 fund and project housed at the Aspen Global Change Institute. A lean, expert Secretariat facilitates grantmaking and supports Alliance engagement among the Crux Policy Centers and partners.

Insider Advocacy for Each Sector & Across Sectors

Each CPC focuses on one sector and is led by experts who have decades of experience designing policies that truly deliver in that sector. The groups 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 CPC begins with an analysis of the top-20 emitting countries in its sector. The CPC then ranks those countries in terms of the political opportunity (e.g., Pakistan may rise in the rankings because government officials are desperate for help, while Russia may fall in the priority list because NGOs face difficulties when working there).

TOP 20 GLOBAL ENERGY EMITTERS

WHERE CRUX WORKS

TOP 20 GLOBAL ENERGY EMITTERS

WHERE CRUX WORKS

Equitable Climate Policy

We must urgently cut harmful emissions to safeguard human health, security, and economic development. At the same time, the global clean energy transition offers a tremendous opportunity to not only create jobs and broaden economic prosperity, but to strengthen public health and well-being, and address historical inequities.

Climate and clean energy policies must be designed to ensure access to these benefits for all people, with particular attention paid to communities that are economically dependent on the fossil fuel economy or that have been disproportionately burdened by fossil fuel pollution.

The Crux Alliance members engage communities, businesses, and local partners to inform equitable and just policy recommendations and are committed to advancing policies that rapidly cut planet-heating emissions, while also improving human health and broadening prosperity across the globe.