Earth Track Inc

What Earth Track Inc does

Earth Track Inc is an independent, privately held research organization founded in 1998 by Doug Koplow and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its stated mission is to monitor and publicize environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS) — government interventions that support fossil fuel production, nuclear power, plastics manufacturing, and other activities with environmental costs. The organization maintains a comprehensive, multi-decade database of subsidy quantification across multiple countries and sectors, and publishes peer-reviewed reports, policy briefs, and analytical content on its website earthtrack.net.

The core product is a publications and data repository organized around four resources: a publications library covering fossil fuel, nuclear, carbon capture, and plastics subsidies; a "Subsidy Overview" educational primer; a "Subsidies in Depth" reference library on specific subsidy mechanisms (loans, insurance, grants, R&D, tax subsidies, energy security, natural resource leasing); and an active blog authored primarily by founder Doug Koplow. Recent outputs include the September 2024 EHS update documenting $2.6 trillion in annual global subsidies, a 2025 analysis of the 45Q carbon capture tax credit, and a chapter on hidden nuclear subsidies in a 2025 Springer volume.

Earth Track operates as a non-commercial research and advocacy entity. All content is distributed free of charge, with no pricing model, paywall, or registration. Revenue mechanics are not disclosed; the organization appears to be sustained through project-based collaborations with partner NGOs and international bodies including Oil Change International, NRDC, FACT Coalition, IISD's Global Subsidies Initiative, QUNO, SEI, OECD, and Business for Nature. GTM motion is community-led: influence flows through high-impact research reports cited by policymakers, journalists, and coalition partners rather than through product sales or service contracts. The organization has 11-50 employees and no disclosed investors, parent company, or funding rounds.

Name

Earth Track Inc

Legal name

Earth Track, Inc.

Website

https://earthtrack.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Earth Track Inc is an independent research organization founded in 1998 that monitors and publicizes environmentally harmful subsidies globally. It publishes reports and analysis on fossil fuel, nuclear, and plastics subsidies for policymakers, NGOs, journalists, and researchers, distributing all content freely via its website.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Policy Research

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Reporting, Dashboards & Regulatory Submittals (Automated Reports, e-Reporting) (EUAHAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Emissions Factors, LCA & Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) Platforms (EUABAEAD), Environmental Monitoring, Data & Reporting (Air/Water/Soil) (BPAIAMAC)

Keywords

• Subsidy research
• Environmental policy analysis
• Fossil fuel subsidies
• Public policy research
• Environmental advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Publication and Research Services: Earth Track generates revenue through publishing research reports and analysis on environmentally harmful subsidies. The organization collaborates with various sponsors and funders including Oil Change International, NRDC, FACT Coalition, and other environmental organizations to produce and distribute their subsidy analysis work.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Earth Track operates a web-based research and publication platform that monitors and publicizes environmentally harmful subsidies globally. The organization produces and distributes peer-reviewed reports, analytical studies, and data compilations covering government subsidies to fossil fuels, nuclear power, plastics, carbon capture, and other environmentally harmful industries. All content is made publicly accessible at no cost to support policy reform and advocacy efforts.

Product overview

Earth Track Inc operates a web-based research and publication platform focused on monitoring and analyzing environmentally harmful subsidies globally. The organization provides a unified data repository and analytical resource library containing reports, studies, and publications on fossil fuel subsidies, nuclear subsidies, carbon capture subsidies, plastics subsidies, and other government interventions that harm the environment. The core product is the publications and data repository, supplemented by educational resources (Subsidy Overview) and in-depth analytical content (Subsidies in Depth), with a regularly updated blog featuring commentary on subsidy developments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Earth Track Publications and Data Repository A comprehensive online library of reports, studies, and data compilations tracking government subsidies to environmentally harmful industries including fossil fuels, nuclear power, and plastics. Targeted at policymakers, environmental NGOs, journalists, and academic researchers.
• Earth Track Blog Commentary and analysis on subsidy developments, reform efforts, and environmental policy updates from Earth Track contributors. Distributed via RSS feed for ongoing updates to policymakers, journalists, and environmental advocates.

Quantifiable outcome

• $2.6 trillion in annual environmentally harmful subsidies documented globally
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Oil Change InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term strategic partner with multiple co-authored publications including 'Paying for Climate Chaos: U.S. Federal Subsidies for Fossil Fuel Production' and 'Funding Failure: Carbon Capture and Fossil Hydrogen Subsidies Exposed'. Collaborates on research and advocacy campaigns.
• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published 'Fossilized Finances: State and Federal Oil and Gas Subsidies in the Permian Basin' with NRDC. Collaborates on fossil fuel subsidy research.
• Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) CoalitionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published 'America-Last and Planet-Last: How U.S. Tax Policy Subsidizes Oil and Gas Extraction Abroad' examining international taxation and fossil fuel subsidies.
• Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on research analyzing subsidies to US shale oil and gas production. Co-authored paper published in Environmental Research Letters examining how subsidies affect oil and gas field investment returns.
• Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on 'Plastic Money: Turning Off the Subsidies Tap' report examining subsidies to plastics production, and 'Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: What Role for the World Trade Organization?'
• International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partner including contributions to Global Subsidies Initiative. Co-published 'Pipelines or Progress: Government support for oil and gas pipelines in Canada' and collaborated on G20 coal subsidies tracking.
• OECDmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerContributed to OECD working papers on subsidies harmful to biodiversity including 'Identifying and assessing subsidies and other incentives harmful to biodiversity' by Alan Matthews and Katia Karousakis.
• Just SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published 'Taxpayer Costs for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage: A Fiscal Disaster in the Making' examining 45Q tax credit fiscal impacts.
• PennFutureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on 'Buried Out of Sight: Uncovering Pennsylvania's Hidden Fossil Fuel Subsidies' examining state-level subsidies.
• Business for NatureminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for translating and distributing the Chinese version of 'Protecting Nature by Reforming Environmentally Harmful Subsidies: An Update' report.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Oil Change International: Research and advocacy organization that tracks public finance flows to fossil fuels. It is Earth Track's most direct functional peer, co-authors several flagship publications (e.g., 'Paying for Climate Chaos', 'Funding Failure') and operates on a similar non-commercial, grant-funded model.
• International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) — Global Subsidies Initiative: Hosts the Global Subsidies Initiative, which Earth Track has long partnered with and which produces parallel research on fossil fuel, agriculture, and fisheries subsidies globally. The two organizations share methodology, audiences, and co-publication history, making IISD/GSI the closest international counterpart.
• Stockholm Environment Institute: Policy research institute working on climate, energy, and environmental economics, including subsidy analysis. SEI has co-authored with Earth Track (e.g., the shale oil and gas paper in Environmental Research Letters), making it a direct peer in subsidy quantification and peer-reviewed methodology.
• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Major environmental NGO that co-publishes fossil fuel subsidy research with Earth Track (e.g., 'Fossilized Finances'). While broader in mandate than Earth Track, its energy-finance work overlaps directly on subsidy transparency and reform advocacy.
• InfluenceMap: Tracks corporate lobbying and financial influence on climate policy, including how fossil fuel interests capture subsidy and policy processes. Comparable to Earth Track in producing data-driven analysis used by investors, journalists, and policymakers engaged in subsidy and climate accountability debates.
• Climate Action Tracker: Independent scientific analysis tracking government climate action and policy, including fossil fuel subsidies. Operates as a research consortium with similar peer-review norms and policy-facing outputs to Earth Track's subsidy work.
• Carbon Market Watch: NGO that monitors climate and carbon-market policy integrity, with overlapping interest in subsidy mechanisms and climate finance reform. Comparable as a small, advocacy-research outfit producing policy-grade analysis for international audiences.
• Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL): International environmental law and policy organization that produces research on fossil fuel subsidies, plastics, and climate finance. Functions as a peer advocacy-research shop producing reports that overlap directly with Earth Track's fossil and plastics subsidy analyses.

Emerging players

• E3G: Climate think tank with offices in Europe that produces policy analysis and convenes governments on climate and energy policy, including subsidy reform. Comparable in the policy-adjacent research domain but operates more as a strategy/convener than a data-driven subsidy quantifier.

Broad incumbents

• World Resources Institute (WRI): Large global research organization with significant climate, energy, and finance programs that overlap with Earth Track's subsidy work. A broader incumbent in environmental policy research that competes for the same policymaker and funder attention but at a substantially larger scale and broader mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xfeeds.feedburner.com/EarthTrackBlog

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Earth Track Inc