CLIMATE STRATEGIES

Their core work

Climate Strategies is a London-based independent research organisation specialising in climate and energy policy analysis. They translate complex decarbonisation challenges into policy frameworks and business models that governments, industries, and regulators can act on. Their work spans post-Paris Agreement pathway analysis and, more recently, the policy and commercial conditions required to deploy Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) at industrial scale — particularly in hard-to-abate sectors like steel. In H2020 projects they function as the policy and economic analysis arm within technically-led consortia, bridging science and governance.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first H2020 engagement (2016–2020) was squarely in macro climate policy — evaluating what the COP21 Paris Agreement means for European decarbonisation strategies and societal pathways. The shift visible in the second project is significant: by 2020 they had moved from broad policy analysis to the granular commercial and regulatory conditions needed to deploy CCUS specifically in heavy industry. The trajectory points toward a growing specialisation at the intersection of industrial decarbonisation policy and the business model design needed to make CCUS investable.

Climate Strategies is moving from broad climate governance analysis toward sector-specific decarbonisation policy, with steel-sector CCUS as the current beachhead — making them a relevant partner for future industrial decarbonisation, hydrogen, and net-zero industrial policy projects.

How they like to work

Climate Strategies has never led an H2020 project, joining both projects as a participant — consistent with a think-tank that provides specialised policy and economic analysis within technically-led consortia rather than managing large research programmes. Despite only two projects, they have worked with 40 distinct partners across 14 countries, indicating that both consortia were large and internationally diverse. This suggests they are comfortable operating as a focused policy node inside complex multi-partner research structures.

With 40 unique consortium partners across 14 countries from just two projects, Climate Strategies has a broad European and international reach relative to their project volume. No single-partner loyalty pattern can be inferred from the data, but their presence in both climate-policy and industrial-technology consortia points to a cross-disciplinary network.

What sets them apart

Climate Strategies occupies a rare position: a dedicated policy research organisation that has deliberately embedded itself in technology-heavy industrial decarbonisation projects rather than staying in the safer territory of general climate governance. This makes them unusually valuable to engineering-led consortia that need credible policy and business-model expertise to satisfy regulatory work packages. For a consortium building a CCUS or industrial decarbonisation proposal, they bring a policy legitimacy and analytical depth that most technical partners cannot provide in-house.

Highlights from their portfolio

• C4U
  Their highest-funded H2020 project (EUR 253,875) and the one that defines their current niche — advanced carbon capture for steel-industry CCUS clusters — with keywords that show clear, actionable policy and business-model expertise.
• COP21 RIPPLES
  Demonstrates their macro-level climate policy credentials and long-run engagement with post-Paris European decarbonisation strategy, providing the policy-analysis pedigree that gives their industrial CCUS work credibility.