UCLA Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

About the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

The Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment is the leading law school center focused on climate change and other critical environmental issues. Founded in 2008 with a generous gift from Dan A. Emmett and his family, the Institute works across disciplines to develop and promote research and policy tools useful to decision makers locally, statewide, nationally and beyond. Our Institute serves as a premier source of environmental legal scholarship, nonpartisan expertise, policy analysis and training.

The Emmett Institute houses UCLA Law’s leading environmental programs, including the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, a vital training ground for environmental lawyering. The Institute also works hand in hand with the UCLA Sustainable Technology & Policy Program, a collaboration between UCLA Law and the UCLA School of Public Health.

Environmental law students at UCLA Law study a diverse curriculum, collaborate with celebrated faculty members and develop skills in effective advocacy. The Wells Clinic affords students the opportunity to work closely with nonprofit and government partners tackling the most important environmental issues in California and beyond. Future environmental law leaders also help drive the national conversation through contributions to the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, events and other activities of the Environmental Law Society, and participation in numerous high-level internships.

The Institute provides policy-relevant research on issues relating to international, national and local environmental law and policy. Taking advantage of its home at one of California's top law schools, the Institute has particular expertise in the cutting-edge steps taken by California to lead the way toward meaningful reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. Lawmakers, the broader legal community, business leaders, academics and the media rely on the Institute as a trusted resource to analyze and answer questions about policy and law issues relating to climate change and other environmental challenges.