A message from Joe Ryan, Executive Director, Crux Alliance
This year was marked by extraordinary uncertainty—more than we’ve experienced in some time. Yet in my visits with our Alliance members in India, Indonesia, China, Mexico, and Brazil, I saw the same reality again and again: the energy transition is accelerating. With renewables rapidly becoming cheaper and electrification expanding, countries are moving beyond fossil-fuel dependence and toward cleaner, more secure growth—and they are turning to the Crux Alliance members to help make that shift a reality.
By combining global best practices with local leadership, the Alliance is helping governments move from ambition to implementation. The fundamentals are now in our favor, and momentum is on our side. That momentum is evident in the reflections from our Alliance member CEOs below.
I hope you are as encouraged as I am by this progress. We’ll keep advancing this work in 2026, guided by our commitment to a climate-safe future where people and nature thrive.
Gratefully,
Joe Ryan
A message from Christine Egan, CEO and Executive Director, CLASP
2025 has been an exciting year, with global leaders embracing appliance energy efficiency as a powerful climate solution. I was honored to be named a 2025 Forbes Sustainability Leader, further underscoring the growing recognition of CLASP’s solutions. More than 70 percent of governments included appliance efficiency in their updated national climate plans; CLASP supported this effort with the Net Zero Appliance NDC Toolkit.
CLASP facilitated meaningful policy progress in major economies. The EU launched a first-of-its-kind circularity policy for mobile devices, and China adopted a new voluntary industrial efficiency policy for compressed air stations that could cut nearly 1.5 Gt of climate pollution by 2050. In Brazil, our technical assistance supported new efficiency requirements for public-lighting LEDs and the country’s first efficiency standard for indoor LED lighting, set to take effect in 2026 and projected to avoid 190 Mt of CO₂ by 2040. Meanwhile, in India, our evidence prompted the government to reopen and strengthen room air conditioner standards, an unprecedented step that resulted in an upgraded efficiency policy aligned with global best practice.
In 2026, we will continue championing appliance efficiency as a driver of affordability, job creation, and economic development – creating people-centered policies that are a win-win for people and the planet.
A message from Peter Graham, CEO and Executive Director, Global Buildings Performance Network
2025 was a year of steady, grounded policy progress for GBPN, driven by local leadership, rigorous evidence, and the resolve to overcome fragmentation and capacity gaps in rapidly growing cities.
In Indonesia, city-led action continued to shape national direction. Balikpapan, South Tangerang, and other municipalities have advanced energy-efficiency roadmaps that, together, are projected to avoid over 610,000 metric tonnes of CO₂ and generate $70 million in electricity savings by 2030. This year, we supported both cities in developing their Technical Guidelines for Energy and Water Conservation in Buildings, which are nearing completion. Under our MOU with the state-owned electricity provider, PLN, we supported PLN in developing a practical technical guideline to transform its 1,300 public offices into energy-efficient buildings.
In India, our new MOU with the state of Kerala established a long-term program to integrate building decarbonization into state planning. Research on thermal comfort and healthy, affordable homes—developed with national partners—has been included in draft updates of the National Building Code (NBC), a shift that will improve indoor air quality, health, and well-being, and reduce energy demand for millions of households. The NBC is expected to be published soon.
A message from Julia Metz, Director, Agora Industry
2025 saw the first major progress in industrial transformation. Despite trade tensions and global overcapacity in the steel and chemicals sectors, pioneering companies have begun producing low-carbon basic materials. Investments in green hydrogen-based steelmaking are underway in Sweden and Oman, a Norwegian cement plant is operating with carbon capture and storage, and German start-ups have delivered the first commercial batches of bio-based methanol—demonstrating that the transition from pilots to large-scale deployment is underway.
A major driver of progress has been the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which enters full operation in January. The CBAM imposes a carbon price on certain imported goods—including steel, cement, and fertilizers—ensuring they face costs comparable to European-made products. Agora Industry has helped shape the CBAM, from early analysis informing its design to a recent proposal to prevent carbon leakage from exports while maintaining decarbonization incentives. Already, CBAM has helped avoid emissions as investments shift toward cleaner production.
Agora Industry also expanded its work in Southeast Asia, highlighting opportunities to decarbonize the region’s growing steel sector, and we are working with partners to develop an industrial transformation roadmap in Indonesia. In the fall, we carried out our first Industry Transformation Training, bringing together think tanks from the International Network of Energy Transition Think Tanks (INETTT) to exchange insights on industrial decarbonization and explore opportunities for collaboration across regions.
Looking ahead, we’ll continue to develop strategies and policy solutions—from direct electrification as a central strategy to measures to decarbonize heavy industry—supporting a credible path to climate-neutral industry.
A message from Markus Steigenberger, Managing Director, Agora Energiewende
2025 saw strong acceleration of the global power sector transformation. Agora Power, together with our partner the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) and other members of INETTT, supported this momentum across regions, advancing policy, market, and regulatory reforms that enabled faster, system-friendly renewables integration.
In China, total wind and solar capacity surpassed fossil power for the first time, and key provinces adopted competitive market mechanisms to scale renewables—supported by Agora’s analysis and RAP’s technical engagement. In Türkiye, our INETTT partner SHURA helped pave the way for 2 gigawatts of new wind and solar auctions and for a climate law with carbon-trading provisions. In South Africa, sustained policy work contributed to reforms enabling renewables investment, ending load shedding, and supporting economic growth. Our partner, Forum Energii’s analysis informed Poland’s updated National and Energy Climate Plan as construction began on the country’s first offshore wind farm, exceeding 1 gigawatt.
Our engagement in new Crux geographies also proved impactful. In South Korea, colleagues at our partner organization joined the new administration after the election, helping advance a 2040 coal phaseout. Japan approved offshore wind development in its exclusive economic zone, Mexico adopted a binding national energy plan, and Indonesia announced a 100-gigawatt solar target—all informed by our partners’ research and assistance.
Despite global uncertainties, 2025 showed how consistent in‑country engagement delivers meaningful policy progress. Onward to 2026!
A message from Heather Thompson, CEO, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Despite global aid cuts and political uncertainty this year, ITDP’s wins continue to chart a promising path forward. Guided by our new Strategic Plan, ITDP’s teams continued to advance transport policies, investments, and innovations across our regions.
In Asia, ITDP supported Chinese cities like Yichang, Beijing, and Guangzhou in scaling multimodal mobility policies, including a World Bank-backed carbon-reduction project and the expansion of 3,000+ kilometers of non-motorized infrastructure. In India, we partnered with the state of Tamil Nadu to deploy phase one of a 1,225 e-bus rollout as part of its ambitious electric vehicle policy. And in Indonesia, our work led the Jakarta government to adopt its first-ever traffic demand management regulations.
In Latin America, ITDP Brazil recently joined partners to announce a major fund for e-buses, building on our national study with BNDES bank that identified priority transport systems for transition. Mexico’s BANOBRAS bank is also using ITDP’s methods to assess transit demand for future investments. Meanwhile, in East Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya are developing national frameworks for electrifying public transport with ITDP’s guidance. Together, this progress positions us for even greater impact in 2026.
A message from Drew Kodjak, CEO, International Council on Clean Transportation
I’m excited to share transportation policy wins from 2025. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved the world’s largest emissions-control area in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, preventing up to 4,300 deaths and saving €29 billion in health-related costs through 2050. The ICCT submitted analysis to the IMO that was signed by all 27 EU countries, the European Commission, and the United Nations.
India launched PM E-DRIVE, its first-ever national e-truck incentive scheme, including a ~$57 million budget. The ICCT led the Ministry of Heavy Industries’ electric vehicle task force for e-trucks and provided analysis. ICCT modeling bolstered Colombia’s e-bus expansion, which will add 269 e-buses to Bogotá’s fleet, projected to reduce 26,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually.
China issued its historic HFC phasedown plan, informed by ICCT public comments and research, which is poised to transform the world’s largest vehicle market.
In September of this year, I announced that I would be stepping down as CEO of the ICCT. Leading the ICCT over the past two decades has been the greatest honor of my professional life, and I’m thrilled for the ICCT’s next phase of growth and impact.
