Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

What Sabin Center for Climate Change Law does

The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law is a non-profit academic research center founded in 2009 and housed at Columbia Law School in New York City, where it operates as an affiliated center of the Columbia Climate School. Its core function is developing legal techniques, scholarship, and policy frameworks to combat climate change and advance climate justice, while training the next generation of climate law practitioners through internship programs and student involvement. The center's primary outputs are legal scholarship (books, law review articles, working papers, op-eds), regulatory engagement (comment letters to agencies, amicus briefs in litigation, written testimonies), and a portfolio of 17+ specialized web-based databases and tracking tools that cover climate litigation, global climate laws, regulation rollbacks, carbon dioxide removal law, climate attribution science, and jurisdiction-specific legislation in New York City and State.

The center's technology footprint consists of curated, publicly accessible databases including the Climate Litigation Database (climatecasechart.com), Climate Change Laws of the World (developed in partnership with the Grantham Research Institute at LSE), the Carbon Dioxide Removal Law Database, the Climate Backtracker for tracking federal regulation rollbacks, and several jurisdiction- and topic-specific trackers. These resources are provided free of charge to legal practitioners, government agencies, NGOs, and the public. The center does not sell commercial products, does not offer APIs, and operates exclusively on a non-commercial academic model.

The center is funded through a diversified mix of foundation grants, corporate contributions, and individual donations, with named support from organizations including the ClimateWorks Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, Kresge Foundation, National Science Foundation, Rockefeller Family Fund, Vulcan Inc., and Wells Fargo Foundation, among others. It is led by Faculty Director Michael Gerrard and Executive Director Michael Burger, and employs approximately 51 staff including research scholars, professional personnel, and student interns. The center maintains an international operational footprint through partnerships with UN agencies, the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank, and global municipal networks.

Name

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Legal name

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Website

https://climate.law.columbia.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law is a non-profit academic research center at Columbia Law School that develops legal scholarship, maintains climate law databases, and engages in regulatory proceedings to advance climate justice. It serves legal practitioners, government agencies, NGOs, and law students through free research resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Research and Climate Law Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Policy, Advocacy & Litigation (BPAGAGAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation & Resilience Programs (BPAIAMAD), Environmental, Climate & Sustainability Standards & Reporting Cooperation (BPADANAI), Climate Finance, Carbon Markets & MRV Systems (BPADALAB), Greenhouse Gas (GHG) & Climate Regulatory Compliance (Mandatory Reporting, Cap-and-Trade Compliance) (EUAHABAG)

Keywords

• Climate law research
• Environmental law databases
• Legal scholarship publications
• Climate policy analysis
• Regulatory tracking tools

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: The center receives support from foundation partners including Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, EinStrong Foundation, Foundation for International Law for the Environment, Heising-Simons Foundation, High Tide LLC, Kresge Foundation, National Science Foundation, New York Community Trust, Northlight Foundation, Vulcan Inc., Waverley Street Foundation, and Wells Fargo Foundation.
2. Individual and Corporate Donations: Generous support from individual donors including Dan A. Emmett, Dianne and David Stern, Peter Joseph, and corporate/institutional donors such as Deutsche Investment Management Americas, Ecolog Ltd, the law firm of Sive Paget & Riesel, Trammell S. Crow, Sujana Group of Companies, Rockefeller Family Fund, and others.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law is an academic research center at Columbia Law School that develops legal techniques to combat the climate crisis, advances climate justice, and trains the next generation of climate law leaders. It maintains a portfolio of free, web-based climate law databases and policy trackers covering litigation, legislation, regulations, and policy across the U.S. and worldwide, and produces scholarly publications, amicus briefs, comment letters, and expert testimony for legal practitioners, government agencies, NGOs, and academic audiences.

Product overview

The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law is an academic research center at Columbia Law School that offers a portfolio of legal research resources, databases, and tracking tools focused on climate change law. Rather than a unified software product, the Center provides multiple web-based databases and tools including the Climate Litigation Database, Carbon Dioxide Removal Law Database, Cities Climate Law Repository, and various state-level climate law trackers (NYC, New York State). These resources track climate-related legislation, litigation, regulations, and policy developments. The Center also produces scholarly publications, legal briefs, comment letters, and testimonies. Key products include the Climate Backtracker for monitoring regulatory rollbacks, the Inflation Reduction Act Tracker, and the Silencing Science Tracker. These resources are primarily informational and accessible through web interfaces rather than API integrations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Carbon Dioxide Removal Law Database A searchable database tracking laws, regulations, and legal frameworks related to carbon dioxide removal technologies and approaches, used by legal practitioners, policy researchers, and technologists working on carbon removal.
• Cities Climate Law Repository A repository documenting climate laws, regulations, and policies implemented by cities worldwide, used by municipal governments, urban policy researchers, and advocates.
• CLCPA Scoping Plan Tracker A tool that monitors and tracks New York State's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) scoping plan implementation, used by New York State policymakers, advocates, and researchers.
• Climate Attribution Database A database tracking scientific research on climate attribution—the connection between climate change and specific weather events—used by climate scientists, litigators, and policy researchers.
• Climate Backtracker A tool documenting the rollback of U.S. climate regulations and tracking changes in federal climate policy, used by legal practitioners, journalists, and policy researchers.
• Climate Change Laws of the World A comprehensive database documenting climate change laws, regulations, and policies from national governments worldwide, developed in partnership with the Grantham Research Institute at LSE, used by policymakers, researchers, and advocates globally.
• Climate Litigation Database An online database tracking climate change-related litigation cases in the United States and globally, used by litigators, legal scholars, and journalists.
• Community Benefits Agreements Database A database of community benefits agreements related to renewable energy and development projects, used by community organizers, project developers, and policy researchers.
• Electric Resilience Toolkit Resources and tools for enhancing electric grid resilience in the face of climate change impacts, used by utility regulators, grid operators, and resilience planners.
• Inflation Reduction Act Tracker A tool monitoring the implementation and allocation of funds from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act's climate provisions, used by federal and state policymakers, grant applicants, and researchers.
• Model Climate Laws Initiative A collection of model legislation and legal frameworks designed to help jurisdictions implement effective climate policies, used by legislative drafters and government policymakers.
• New York City Climate Law Tracker A tool tracking climate-related legislation, regulations, and policies specific to New York City, used by NYC policymakers, advocates, and legal practitioners.
• New York State Climate Law Tracker A tool monitoring climate legislation, regulations, and policy developments across New York State, used by state policymakers, legal practitioners, and policy researchers.
• Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities Database A database tracking opposition and challenges to renewable energy facility siting and development, used by renewable energy developers, advocates, and policy researchers.
• Silencing Science Tracker A tool documenting instances where governments have attempted to restrict or suppress scientific research on climate change, used by journalists, scientists, and policy researchers.
• Smart Surfaces Policy Tracker A tool monitoring policies related to smart surfaces and urban heat mitigation strategies, used by urban planners, policymakers, and climate adaptation researchers.
• Searchable Library of Scholarly Publications A searchable archive of the Sabin Center's scholarly publications including books, book chapters, law review articles, and working papers on climate change law, used by legal scholars, researchers, and practitioners.
• Climate Law Blog A blog featuring analysis, commentary, and updates on climate change law developments, regulatory changes, and litigation trends, used by legal practitioners, policymakers, and journalists.
• Comments, Legal Briefs, and Testimonies A collection of amicus briefs, regulatory comments, and expert testimonies submitted by the Sabin Center in climate-related legal and regulatory proceedings at domestic and international levels.

Quantifiable outcome

• Produces books, book chapters, law review articles, working papers, and op-ed articles on climate change law topics
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

25 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Asia Development BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational organization partner collaborating on climate solutions.
• World BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational organization partner for climate policy work.
• United Nations Development ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUN agency partner collaborating on climate development initiatives, including disaster planning in Laos.
• UN Environment ProgrammecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUN Environment partner for climate law and policy collaboration.
• Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (LSE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner collaborating on the Climate Change Laws of the World database, consolidating climate laws and regulations from national governments worldwide.
• EarthjusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental law nonprofit partner for climate litigation collaboration.
• Natural Resources Defense CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental advocacy organization partner in climate initiatives.
• Environmental Defense FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental organization partner for climate policy and legal work, co-submitting comments on regulations.
• National League of CitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization representing cities; Sabin Center files joint amicus briefs on behalf of the National League of Cities and U.S. Conference of Mayors.
• C40 Cities Climate Leadership GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of major cities collaborating on climate action; co-submits comments with Sabin Center on climate regulations.
• ICLEI - USAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation of local governments for sustainability, collaborating on climate initiatives.
• Columbia Climate SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Sabin Center is an affiliated center of the Columbia Climate School, frequently collaborating with their scientists on interdisciplinary research.
• Columbia Center on Global Energy PolicycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerColumbia University partner center for energy policy collaboration.
• Columbia Center on Sustainable InvestmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerColumbia University partner center for sustainable investment research.
• Legal Response InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner providing legal assistance to least developed countries during UNFCCC negotiations.
• U.S. Conference of MayorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization representing cities; Sabin Center files joint amicus briefs in support of cities' climate actions.
• C40 CitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal network of cities taking climate action; co-submits regulatory comments with Sabin Center.
• Climate MayorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of U.S. mayors committed to climate action; co-submits comments on EPA regulations.
• New York State Energy Research and Development AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState agency partner for energy and climate research in New York.
• Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (UCLA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner collaborating on environmental law research.
• Environmental Law InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch organization partner for environmental law scholarship.
• Energy InnovationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnergy policy research partner for climate and energy analysis.
• Rocky Mountain InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClean energy research institute partner.
• Union of Concerned ScientistsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScience advocacy organization partner for climate work.
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHumanitarian organization partner for disaster planning and climate adaptation work, including Laos project.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• ClientEarth: Environmental law charity using litigation and legal advocacy to address climate change. Comparable as a mission-aligned peer focused on using law as a tool for climate action, though ClientEarth is more litigation-forward than Sabin.
• Earthjustice: A nonprofit environmental law organization active in climate litigation. Listed as a Sabin strategic partner, Earthjustice complements Sabin's scholarly role with a courtroom-litigation focus, making it an adjacent rather than direct peer but highly comparable in the climate-law ecosystem.
• Center for International Environmental Law: International nonprofit using law to address climate change, biodiversity, and toxics. Comparable in mission and global orientation, and listed among Sabin's broader network of climate law collaborators.

Broad incumbents

• World Resources Institute: Global research organization that produces data, analysis, and policy guidance on climate and sustainability. Overlaps with Sabin on international climate policy analysis and translation of climate science into legal and policy frameworks.
• Resources for the Future: Independent nonprofit research institution focused on energy, environmental, and natural resource economics and policy. Comparable to Sabin as an ideologically independent, research-driven nonprofit producing work that informs climate law and regulation.
• Natural Resources Defense Council: Major environmental advocacy organization with deep climate policy and legal work. Listed as a Sabin partner, NRDC is broader in scope (energy, health, oceans) but overlaps materially on climate litigation and regulatory comment-letter activity.
• Environmental Defense Fund: Large environmental nonprofit with significant climate law and policy capacity. A listed Sabin partner that co-submits comments on regulations, EDF overlaps on climate regulatory engagement and economic analysis of climate policy.

Direct peers

• Environmental Law Institute: A nonprofit research and education organization producing environmental law scholarship, policy analysis, and training. It is one of Sabin's listed minor partners and operates a similar research-publication-and-training model for environmental legal practitioners.
• Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment: UCLA Law School's climate and environmental law center. It is the closest US academic peer, conducting interdisciplinary research, training students, and producing scholarship on climate law — directly comparable to Sabin's role within Columbia Law School.
• Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment: Academic research institute at the London School of Economics focused on climate change law, policy, and economics. It is Sabin's co-developer on the flagship Climate Change Laws of the World database and shares the same nonprofit, scholarly mission and target audience of legal practitioners and policymakers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UComEaIxYDWew_Y2OS7E_nYA
• Facebookfacebook.com/ColumbiaClimateLaw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sabin-center-for-climate-change-law
• Instagraminstagram.com/sabincenter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Sabin Center for Climate Change Law