Our Impact
Cross-Sectoral Initiatives
Tackling Climate Challenges That Don’t Fit In One Box
Policy solutions to some of the most urgent climate challenges don’t fit neatly into a single sector. Crafting the best policies to promote the rapid adoption—and best uses—of specific clean technologies often requires expertise that spans electricity, buildings, appliances, industry, and transportation systems. For instance, increasing electrification of end uses, such as transportation, building heating, and industrial processes, is an essential climate strategy, but it can also exacerbate the challenges posed by integrating new renewables into the electricity grid to meet rising demand. We need to craft holistic policy solutions—or risk bottlenecks that stymie progress.
It’s like solving a puzzle: to make real progress, you need to see how everything fits together.
That’s where the Crux Alliance comes in. As a network of world-renowned policy centers, each with deep expertise in a specific sector, Crux is uniquely positioned to bring the right minds together—and to help them work in lockstep. The Alliance enables our members to combine forces, generating impact greater than the sum of what any single organization could do alone.
The Crux Alliance’s cross-sectoral initiatives are focused, multi-partner projects that bring Alliance members together to tackle complex climate problems with the right mix of multidisciplinary expertise, policy know-how, and strategic execution. Together, our Alliance develops and delivers integrated policy solutions that work—across sectors, across geographies, and across the systems that shape our future.
Heat Pump Initiative
Heat pumps are the most powerful tool we have to decarbonize heating
These ultra-efficient electric systems transfer heat from the air, ground, or water to warm (or cool) homes, buildings, and even industrial facilities—all while dramatically reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
Because heat pumps can deliver three to five times more energy than the electrical energy they consume, they can lower energy bills while slashing harmful emissions. And because they run on electricity, they also improve energy security for countries that rely heavily on fossil fuel imports, while creating new domestic manufacturing opportunities. But scaling heat pumps isn’t just a matter of swapping out equipment—it requires smart, cross-sectoral policy design that bridges the worlds of building codes, product standards, electricity pricing, and more.
Crux’s Alliance members have been partnering since 2021 to transform global heat pump policy—with major impact. Led by the Regulatory Assistance Project, in collaboration with CLASP, Agora Energiewende, and the Global Buildings Performance Network, the Alliance has become a global leader in heat pump policy.
Together, the Alliance members worked together to create the definitive guide to effective, holistic heat pump policy. They’ve leveraged their combined expertise to shape groundbreaking policies in the U.S., the EU, the U.K., and China, to educate the public on the many benefits of heat pumps, to counter misconceptions about costs and technological readiness, and to launch the Clean Heat Forum, a global network of governments committed to accelerating the transition to clean and efficient heating in buildings worldwide. In the next stage, the heat pump initiative will bring its cross-sectoral heat pump policy expertise to Japan, India, Mexico, and South Korea.
Featured reports
Testimonial
“RAP’s Heat Pump Policy Toolkit provided a comprehensive overview of key policy elements to support an accelerated heat pump roll-out. Its structure served as the basis for defining the overview of policy measures in one of our reports under the Support Action for Heat Pumps, a European Commission initiative that is executed by a consortium including Vito, Fraunhofer and the European Heat Pump Association.”
D. Person
Success Story
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Hydrogen Initiative
Hydrogen is a key climate tool, provided it’s held to high standards and its use is focused on specific sectors where it is truly needed.
While hydrogen was once hyped as a climate cure-all, it’s now clear that its real value lies in a narrow set of high-impact sectors, such as serving as an input to manufacture green steel or certain chemicals, or to produce sustainable fuels to power long-haul shipping and aviation. Ensuring that the production of truly low-emissions hydrogen matches the demand in this narrow set of industries requires smart, cross-cutting policy—spanning electricity systems, industrial strategy, fuel standards, and international trade frameworks.
Crux launched its hydrogen program in 2022 to bring clarity, credibility, and coordination to one of the most complex climate topics on the table. Led by the International Council on Clean Transportation in coordination with Agora Industry and the Regulatory Assistance Project, the initiative has shaped the global conversation around smart hydrogen standards and use cases. The initiative is working in the EU, China, India, and beyond to steer investment away from fossil-based hydrogen and toward high-impact clean applications. In the coming years, Crux will double down on country-level engagement, align public and private actors around better use-case prioritization, and help governments develop the set of policies they need to act with confidence and speed.
Featured reports
Testimonial
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A. Person
Success Story
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Grids Initiative
Grids are the backbone of the clean energy transition
They enable widespread electrification powered by renewables to deliver a fully clean energy economy. However, grid modernization is lagging behind the clean energy transition, slowed by high costs, lengthy permitting processes, deferred investments, and outdated planning. As a result, grid bottlenecks are growing—exacerbating interconnection delays, challenges in integrating variable renewable power, and cost pressures that hinder decarbonization and reliability. Building vast amounts of new grid infrastructure and scaling emerging grid technologies will require smart, cross-sectoral policy reforms that span planning, permitting, f inance, supply chains, grid operations, and power system regulation.
The Crux Alliance is uniquely positioned to take on this challenge. Reflecting how deeply grids cut across power, transport, industry, and buildings, every Alliance member is involved in this flagship effort. This initiative is currently developing an integrated toolkit for grid modernization, with plans to deploy it internationally through Crux Alliance networks and in partnership with the Global Grid Catalyst. The goal is to help countries overcome the policy and institutional barriers that prevent grids from keeping pace with the energy transition— ensuring that emissions reductions proceed at the speed and scale the climate crisis demands.
Testimonial
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A. Person
Success Story
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