Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW): Grantee Spotlight (Q3 2026)

‍

The Giving Green Fund is awarding a restricted grant to the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) for its industrial decarbonization program to advance policy and technology development, evidence generation, and industry engagement across the steel, cement, green hydrogen, and carbon capture and utilization sectors. CEEW is a leading Indian policy research institution working across energy, environment, and climate.

CEEW's work falls within our philanthropic strategies of decarbonizing iron and steel, decarbonizing cement and concrete, and supporting cross-cutting enablers for industrial decarbonization, and more specifically, our sub-strategies to support green trade policy and facilitate early-mover plant construction in the iron and steel sector, support governments to establish regulatory frameworks and facilitate early-mover plant construction in the cement sector, and advance carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) (as discussed in our Industry sector report). Please see Giving Green's sector and strategy reports for more information, including potential risks and co-benefits, recommended sub-strategies, theory of change, funding need, and key uncertainties.

Last updated: September 2026

What Is CEEW?

CEEW is an independent policy research institution established in 2010 and based in New Delhi. It conducts research and works with governments, industry, and other stakeholders on energy, climate, and sustainable development. Its research spans energy transition, industrial sustainability, climate finance, and related policy areas. CEEW combines quantitative analysis and technical research with policy engagement and implementation support.

CEEW has developed a substantial body of work on India's energy transition and has established relationships with central ministries and state governments. Its industrial sustainability program works across sectors including steel, cement, fertilizers, and other energy-intensive industries, combining industrial process analysis with policy research and engagement with companies and government institutions. CEEW has contributed to the development of major national and state-level policies—including India's National Green Hydrogen Mission and state green hydrogen policies—and has worked with the Ministry of Steel on India's steel decarbonization roadmap.

What Are We Funding, and How Could It Help Address Climate Change?

Industry accounts for over 40% of India's greenhouse gas emissions but has received considerably less attention for decarbonization efforts. As part of our focus on addressing barriers to industrial decarbonization in India, we are funding CEEW to advance work across three sectors:

• Iron and steel: supporting deployment of natural gas-based ironmaking capacity with incremental green hydrogen blending to avoid long-term investment in blast furnace capacity, evaluating alternative fuels for direct-reduced iron (DRI) rotary kilns by assessing their techno-economic and supply chain requirements, and developing suitable consortium models for green iron trade between India and the EU.
• Cement: evaluating alternative supplementary cementitious materials and their supply chains, assessing and piloting alternative fuel options for cement plants, and analyzing the operational, commercial, and system-level implications of different taxonomies for green clinker, cement, and concrete.
• Green hydrogen and derivatives: supporting the state of Gujarat in implementing its green hydrogen policy, including implementation guidelines, mapping demand in sectors such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals, identifying potential hydrogen hubs, and designing demand-side mechanisms to unlock investment across the value chain.
• Carbon capture and utilization (CCU): identifying and assessing non-green-hydrogen CCU applications and their emissions reduction potential and economic viability in India, evaluating global developments in CCU taxonomies and exploring options for developing Indian taxonomies for applications such as sustainable aviation fuel, soda ash, and ethanol, and supporting policymakers with regulatory design for CCU.

The above work focuses on decisions that could shape India’s industrial emissions over the coming decades. Advancing gas-based ironmaking with hydrogen blending can provide a transitional pathway that reduces the risk of long-term carbon lock-in from additional blast furnace capacity. Greater use of supplementary cementitious materials can reduce clinker demand and, consequently, process emissions from cement production. Gujarat is India’s largest hydrogen-consuming state and has substantial renewable energy resources, making it an important state for implementing India’s green hydrogen policy. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage is another critical pathway for the long-term decarbonization of India’s industrial sector. Generating early evidence can help inform policy direction and accelerate the development of this technology for industrial applications where other mitigation options are limited.

Why Do We Think CEEW Will Use This Funding Well?

CEEW has a strong track record of working on industrial decarbonization in India, with sector-specific expertise in green hydrogen, steel, and cement, and has historically supported central and state governments on policy development and implementation.

• For iron and steel, CEEW supported the Ministry of Steel in developing the national steel decarbonization roadmap, green steel taxonomy, and developing framework options for green public procurement. The proposed work builds on these activities, as well as CEEW's ongoing evaluation of options for decarbonizing the direct reduced iron process. 
• For cement, CEEW has developed a marginal abatement cost curve and is forecasting the availability of supplementary cementitious materials, providing a foundation for the proposed supply chain analysis and testing.
• For green hydrogen, CEEW was an initial knowledge partner to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in developing the National Green Hydrogen Mission, subsequently supported evaluation of India's green hydrogen standards, and helped Gujarat and Rajasthan develop their state green hydrogen policies. The proposed Gujarat work would build on this existing policy work by supporting implementation.
• For CCU, CEEW has prior experience developing industrial taxonomies and has supported India's green hydrogen and green steel taxonomy processes for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the Ministry of Steel, respectively. CEEW has also supported a CCUS pilot by facilitating collaboration between a steel plant and a startup. These experiences provide a relevant foundation for assessing CCU opportunities and developing taxonomies for emerging applications.

CEEW also has an active memorandum of understanding with Gujarat's Energy and Petrochemicals Department, providing an existing institutional relationship for the proposed state-level work. Philanthropic funding for industrial decarbonization in India is quite constrained, especially compared with the power sector. We think CEEW's technical expertise, government relationships, and experience moving from research into policy implementation and piloting provide a strong foundation for the proposed work.

We publish grant spotlights to offer transparency to Giving Green Fund donors and resources for those interested in the impact strategies each grant supports. Giving Green believes our Top Climate Nonprofits have the greatest impact potential for large, unrestricted gifts. For several reasons, we also disburse and recommend grants to other organizations surfaced through our research process for work that we believe is at least as impactful as grants to our top recommendations. 

This is a non-partisan analysis (study or research) and is provided for educational purposes.

CEEW is a registered nonprofit in India.