Center for Law, Energy and the Environment

What Center for Law, Energy and the Environment does

The Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) is a non-profit academic research center housed at UC Berkeley School of Law that develops and disseminates legal and policy solutions to environmental and climate challenges. Founded in 2006, CLEE produces policy research, briefs, and convenings across five core domains: climate and energy, water, oceans and offshore wind, land use and housing, and wildfire resilience. Its primary constituents are California state and local government policymakers (notably CARB, DWR, and Caltrans) along with federal counterparts (U.S. DOE), environmental nonprofits, and the insurance and clean-energy industries. The center operates six sub-brands/initiatives: the Climate Risk Initiative (led by former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones), the EV Equity Initiative, GrizzlyCorps, the Law of the Sea Institute, Project Climate (including the Climate Break podcast and methane tracking), and the California-China Climate Institute. CLEE co-chairs the federally funded ARCHES Aviation Working Group with SFO and RMI and co-founded the Global Forum for Sustainable Batteries with ClimateWorks Foundation.

CLEE does not develop commercial software, APIs, or proprietary technology products. Its underlying method is legal and policy analysis, research synthesis, stakeholder convening, and student-supported data work (e.g., a map of 635+ Community Benefits Plans from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act projects). The center's outputs - reports, policy frameworks, expert roundtables, webinars, op-eds, and the Legal Planet blog (with UCLA) - are distributed open-access on its website and through media partnerships.

Its business model is grant-funded non-profit operation. Revenue (undisclosed) comes from research grants and foundation support from organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, ClimateWorks Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, supplemented by charitable donations including the Law Firm Partners Program. Pricing is non-commercial; there are no paid products or licensing royalties. Governance sits with the UC Regents, the CLEE Advisory Board, and UC Berkeley School of Law administration. Customer/partner concentration is dispersed across numerous foundations, agencies, and nonprofit co-funders rather than a small set of large commercial counterparties.

Name

Center for Law, Energy and the Environment

Legal name

Center for Law, Energy & the Environment

Website

https://clee.berkeley.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CLEE is a UC Berkeley School of Law non-profit research center that produces legal and policy analysis on climate, energy, water, and land use for California state and local government, federal agencies, environmental nonprofits, and clean-energy industry stakeholders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Policy Research

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainability & ESG Consulting (BPAHACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental Policy, Planning & Regulation (BPAIAMAA), Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation (BPAGAGAF), Environmental, Climate & Sustainability Standards & Reporting Cooperation (BPADANAI)

Keywords

• Environmental policy research
• Climate law consulting
• Energy policy analysis
• Regulatory policy advisory
• Academic research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

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

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Foundation Funding: CLEE operates as an academic center at UC Berkeley School of Law, funded primarily through research grants, foundation support, and charitable donations. The center receives funding from organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, ClimateWorks Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and other climate-focused philanthropies.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CLEE conducts non-partisan legal and policy research on climate, energy, water, land use, wildfire, offshore wind, sustainable batteries, and electric vehicle infrastructure. It delivers this through research reports and policy briefs, stakeholder convenings, student training programs, and collaborative initiatives that translate research into actionable policy frameworks for government agencies, nonprofits, and industry stakeholders.

Product overview

CLEE is an academic research center at UC Berkeley Law, not a technology company. It does not offer software products, platforms, or APIs. Its offerings consist of policy research publications, educational programs for law students, and collaborative initiatives addressing environmental challenges. The center produces research reports and policy briefs on climate, energy, water, land use, and oceans, and operates student programs including the CLEE Scholars program and GrizzlyCorps. CLEE also leads collaborative initiatives such as the Climate Risk Initiative, EV Equity Initiative, and the Global Forum for Sustainable Batteries with ClimateWorks Foundation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Climate Risk Initiative: CLEE initiative focused on climate risk and insurance, led by former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones
• EV Equity Initiative
• GrizzlyCorps
• Law of the Sea Institute
• Project Climate
• California-China Climate Institute

Quantifiable outcome

• Developed first-ever wildfire resilience insurance policy demonstrating lower premium pricing for properties with ecological forest management practices
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and supporting.

• The Nature Conservancy (TNC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on housing affordability and land use research, and partnered on the groundbreaking wildfire resilience insurance policy that demonstrated how nature-based forest management can reduce insurance risk and premiums.
• UCLA Law Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the EnvironmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint collaboration on transportation electrification research, including reports on heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles and demand-side solutions for clean truck deployment.
• ClimateWorks FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founded the Global Forum for Sustainable Batteries with CLEE to coordinate worldwide efforts on sustainable battery supply chains and transportation electrification.
• Willis Towers Watson (WTW)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with CLEE's Climate Risk Initiative to structure the first-ever wildfire resilience insurance policy underwritten by Globe Underwriting, demonstrating nature-based solutions for risk reduction.
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and RMIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-chaired the Aviation Working Group for the federally funded ARCHES (Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems) program to explore hydrogen's role in aviation decarbonization.
• Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. (EPS)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProvided technical support for the 'Affording the California Dream' housing research project analyzing optimal locations and housing types for homeownership opportunities.
• Next 10supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on the 'Costs of Climate Change' report analyzing financial impacts on California and U.S. households from climate-related disruptions.
• Prospect Silicon ValleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Equitable Mobility Initiative to develop innovative financing proposals for city-scale clean mobility infrastructure in priority communities.
• California Air Resources Board (CARB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngaged in research and policy analysis supporting CARB's Advanced Clean Trucks regulation and other state climate policies.
• Climate & Wildfire InstitutesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on wildfire research including the 'California's Year in Fire' project developing comprehensive frameworks for tracking wildfire impacts and the public health primer on wildfire smoke.
• Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed the Monterey Bay EV Climate Adaptation & Resiliency (EV CAR) Framework collaborative initiative with Caltrans, Rincon Consultants, Ecology Action, and Regeneración Pájaro Valley Climate Action.
• Net-Zero California and Clean Air Task ForcesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported CLEE's research on transmission financing strategies for reducing electricity rates while accelerating renewable energy deployment.
• Berkeley Law StudentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudents work with CLEE on research projects including mapping 635+ Community Benefits Plans and other policy analysis initiatives.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute): An established nonprofit think tank focused on clean-energy transition and climate-policy transformation; much larger than CLEE, with overlapping focus areas in transportation electrification, climate risk, and grid/decarbonization policy research and convenings.
• World Resources Institute (WRI): A global environmental research and policy organization working on climate, energy, water, and sustainability topics; significantly larger and internationally scoped than CLEE, but overlapping in producing open-access publications, data tools, and convenings for government and business stakeholders.
• Resources for the Future: An independent, nonprofit research institution focused on energy, environmental, and natural resource economics and policy; produces similar peer-reviewed and policy-relevant research and convenes stakeholders across climate, water, and energy topics analogous to CLEE.

Others

• ClimateWorks Foundation: A core funder and co-convener with CLEE on the Global Forum for Sustainable Batteries; as one of the largest climate philanthropy intermediaries, ClimateWorks both funds and complements CLEE's convening role across subnational climate policy channels.
• The Nature Conservancy (TNC): CLEE's direct partner on the wildfire resilience insurance policy and land-use research; comparable in operating scale and influence in California environmental policy, and serves overlapping California state-agency and foundation stakeholders.

Direct peers

• Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke: A peer university-based research and policy institute producing actionable environmental and energy policy analysis for government and foundation clients; directly comparable academic-policy model with a national, not just regional, geographic reach.
• Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment: A peer California-based academic sustainability institute at Stanford producing interdisciplinary environmental research, policy work, and convenings; serves similar state, federal, and foundation funders in climate, energy, and natural-resource policy domains.
• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law: Columbia Law School's climate law center producing climate-related legal research, policy analysis, and convenings; directly comparable academic-policy model focused on environmental and energy law, including litigation and regulation tracking similar to CLEE's programs.
• Harvard Environmental & Energy Law Program: An academic law-school environmental and energy law policy program publishing research, convenings, and policy analysis; directly comparable academic model producing applied legal scholarship for government, foundation, and business stakeholders in climate and energy policy.
• UCLA Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment: A peer academic law-school climate center at UCLA, with which CLEE directly co-publishes research on transportation electrification; both serve California state and local policymakers with legal/policy analysis on climate, energy, and environmental issues from within a top public-law school.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/cleeberkeley
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-law-energy-&-the-environment-at-berkeley-law
• Instagraminstagram.com/cleeberkeley

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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