A message from Richard Heede, Co-founder and Director of CAI
Climate Accountability Institute’s board has, at my recommendation, approved and supported the closure of the Institute after fifteen years of productive work. Articles of Dissolution will be filed on 15 October 2026. We have exceeded our original objectives established when we first organized the research institute in 2011, and we move on to other endeavors. Our legacy “Carbon Majors” dataset of historical fossil fuel and cement production from as early as 1854 to the present by investor-owned and state-owned entities has gained international recognition, use, and relevance in climate modeling, advocacy, litigation, and legislation. Updating of the carbon majors database — now containing historical data on fossil fuel production and emissions attributed to 180 entities — has been transferred to London-based InfluenceMap.
My personal essay on the Institute’s development and arc of work from 2011 to 2026 is available here.
Our scientific papers and supporting reports are all listed here.
Our science-based work on quantifying and attributing climate-altering emissions, impacts, and damages owes its success to the joint efforts of dozens of colleagues and many long-term funders and donors. My letter to colleagues is available here.
Some ongoing projects will be continued under Climate Mitigation Services.
May the work enliven progress toward climate justice and a livable planet.
With deep and enduring gratitude,
– Rick
“Our vision is for a world protected from the social, economic,
and environmental damages of climate change.”
Climate Accountability Institute
The Climate Accountability Institute engages in research and education on anthropogenic climate change, dangerous interference with the climate system, and the contribution of fossil fuel producers’ carbon production to atmospheric carbon dioxide content. This encompasses the science of climate change, the civil and human rights associated with a stable climate regime not threatened by climate-destabilizing emissions of greenhouse gases, and the risks, liabilities, and disclosure requirements regarding past and future emissions of greenhouse gases attributable to primary carbon producers.
Our vision is for a world protected from the social, economic, and environmental damages of climate change.
Our mission is to use climate accountability as a fulcrum for climate stewardship.
Our strategy is to leverage accountability by carbon producers into using their skills, capital, and resources to aid rather than oppose the transition to a low-carbon or zero-carbon energy future.
We are pleased to announce the publication of the Carbon Majors results. For more information please go here. For Publications go here.
The Institute was established in September 2011 by Richard Heede, Naomi Oreskes, and Greg Erwin as a non-profit research and educational organization.
“In my view, staying out of the fray is not taking the ‘high ground’; it is just passing the buck.”
–Steve Schneider Memorial Forum, Boulder, August 2011.
“CAI’s work is gutsy and powerful.”
— Denis Hayes, Bullitt Foundation