Our Origins
Climate Policy Radar's origin can be traced back to 2009, on the fringes of the COP15 conference in Copenhagen. At that time, GLOBE International—a cross-party network of parliamentarians focused on improving governance for sustainable development, founded by the likes of Al Gore and John Kerry—struggled to answer fundamental questions about climate legislation: what was being done, where, and by whom. Recognising their lack of resources for effective peer learning, they commissioned the London School of Economics (LSE) to create the first GLOBE Climate Legislation Study, a comprehensive book detailing the climate legislation of 16 countries.
What was once a slim book became incrementally heavier, as, year on year, more government legislation was added. Eventually, it covered every single national government globally, and became an online database in 2015, built on a shoestring budget. The database, created in close collaboration with parliamentarians and governments, sought to build something that was truly fit-for-purpose, an ethos which still guides Climate Policy Radar today.
The yearly report launches took the small team across the globe, with events at the US Congress, several COPs IPU events and intersessionals from Mexico City to [X].
With more and more available documents, it soon became clear that wherever the line was drawn would not be enough. The database, which was now updated incrementally, was being used by more and more people, with user types growing. So, [in X year] the idea for Climate Policy Radar was hatched, and in 2022, the first version of our first product, Climate Policy Radar (Alpha) was released.
Our work makes use of advanced and emerging technologies such as Machine Learning (ML) and AI, ensuring we put humans at the centre of design and implementation, building in credibility, trust-worthiness and bias reduction into all that we do.
This technology means we are taking discovering, understanding and generating insights from climate law and policy to new heights. Every year, >300,000 users – including in the legal community, journalists and academics, civil society, and financial institutions – from over 100 countries use our tools.