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Rhodium Group

Website:

rhg.com/
Location:

New York, NY
Type:

For-profit Think Tank
Founded:

2003
Founder:

Daniel H. Rosen

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Rhodium Group is a think tank that focuses on environmentalism and the economy and politics of China. 1 It has received funding from multiple left-of-center private foundations including the Heising-Simons Foundation,  William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation. 2 3 4

It is also partnered with BlackRock, the world’s largest investment management company, which has been criticized for having major investments in China. 5 6 7

Background

Rhodium Group is a think tank that focuses on environmentalism, China’s economy and political situation, and the study of India’s economic rise. Both public and private sectors in the United States use Rhodium Group’s research. 8

The organization was founded in 2003 by Daniel H. Rosen, an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University who has experience in analyzing China’s commerce and international economic relations. Rosen is also affiliated with several American think tanks outside of Rhodium Group. 9

Rhodium Group’s research on China is its focus. It analyses the country’s economic activity as well as its business sector. The organization also researches China’s international investments and policy. 10

Research

Rhodium Group released a research report on the Biden administration’s Justice40 program.

Justice40 was created by the Biden administration shortly after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. The administration created the program to ensure that the federal government assisted state and local communities in carrying out President Biden’s promise to “deliver at least 40 percent of the overall benefits from Federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities.” 11

Rhodium Group’s research report “Justice40 Initiative: Mapping Race and Ethnicity” analyzed the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) preliminary “Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.” The “screening tool” was designed to identify the “disadvantaged communities” across the United States that would be eligible for federal investment under Justice40. 12

Rhodium Group noted in its report that the tool used by CEQ did not account for race when deciding which communities would receive Justice40 funding. The report cross-referenced the “disadvantaged communities” the “Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool” identified with race and ethnicity breakdowns from the 2019 American Community Survey. According to the report, within the “disadvantaged communities” the tool identified, “34% of people self-identify as Hispanic/Latino, 22% as Black, and 1.5% as American Indian/Alaskan Native.” The figure shown in the report also noted that the tool classed 36.3 percent of “White, Non-Hispanic/Latino” communities as “disadvantaged.” 13

Funding

Rhodium Group receives contributions and grants from various left-of-center private grantmaking foundations, including the Heising-Simons Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, both of which also funded a collection of “environmental justice movement leaders, academics, and advocates“ that formed an organization called Justice40, which is separate from the Biden administration program. The Justice40 organization was created to ensure the Biden administration program had an “accountability framework centered on racial justice and equity.” 14

The Heising-Simons Foundation, a California-based private family foundation led by liberal philanthropists and major Democratic Party donors Liz Simons and her husband Mark Heising, granted Rhodium Group a grant of $500,000 in 2020, and two grants of a combined total of $355,000 in 2021. 15

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (also known as the Hewlett Foundation) granted Rhodium Group two grants worth a combined total of $600,000 in 2019, two grants of a combined worth of $650,000 in 2020, and a single grant of $200,000 in 2021. 16 17

The Rockefeller Foundation, a major funder of liberal advocacy and public policy efforts, also provided Rhodium Group with a single grant of $233,411 in 2021. 18

Rhodium Group also partnered with BlackRock, the world’s largest investment management company, with nearly $7.5 trillion in managed assets as of January 2020. Blackrock has been criticized for having major investments in China. The partnership between Rhodium Group and Blackrock focused on the “physical impacts of climate change” which in turn helps Blackrock “develop vital new risk capabilities” for its clients, and “to define datasets for use in BlackRock’s new physical risk models. 19 20 21

People

Daniel H. Rosen

Daniel H. Rosen is the founder of Rhodium Group, an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University, and an affiliate of several American think tanks that focus on international economics. He was a senior advisor for International Economic Policy at the White House National Economic Council and National Security Council from 2000 until 2001, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a board member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Rosen is listed as a partner of Rhodium Group. 22

Kate Larsen

Kate Larsen, who is listed as a partner of Rhodium Group, worked with the Obama administration as deputy director for energy and climate change at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She also served as a foreign affairs officer in the U.S. Department of State from 2007 until 2013 and was a lead negotiator for the United States in the United Nations climate negotiations. She worked for the International Energy Agency, the left-of-center non-profit environmental group the Environmental Defense Fund, and the World Resources Institute. 23

Trevor Houser

Trevor Houser, who is also listed as a partner of Rhodium Group, co-directs the Climate Impact Lab, directs the Climate Policy Fellows at the City College of New York, and was a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of State during 2009. 24

References

  1. “Rhodium Group.” Leading Independent Research Provider. Accessed March 6, 2022. rhg.com/what-we-do/.
  2. “Rhodium Group.” Heising-Simons Foundation. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://www.hsfoundation.org/grants/search-our-grants/?keyword=rhodium+group&program=&amount-min=&amount-max=&year-min=From&year-max=To.
  3. “Rhodium Group.” Hewlett Foundation. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://hewlett.org/grants/?keyword=rhodium%20group%20%E2%80%93%20for%20the%20evaluation%20of%20tax%20credit%20incentives%20for%20low%20and%20zero%20carbon%20technologies&sort=relevance¤t_page=1.
  4. “Rhodium Group 2021.” Rockefeller Foundation. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.rockefellerfoundation.org/grant/rhodium-group-2021-2/.
  5. Ahmed, Saqib Iqbal. “BlackRock profit beats estimates as assets top $7 trillion.” Reuters. January 15, 2020. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.reuters.com/article/us-blackrock-results/blackrock-profit-beats-estimates-as-assets-top-7-trillion-idUSKBN1ZE1E4.
  6. Lord, James. “BlackRock launches MSCI China ETF in Europe.” ETF Strategy. June 25, 2019. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.etfstrategy.com/blackrock-launches-msci-china-etf-in-europe-94578/.
  7. “Blackrock and Rhodium partner on climate analytics.” BlackRock. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.blackrock.com/us/individual/about-us/blackrock-rhodium-partner-on-climate-analytics.
  8. “Rhodium Group.” Leading Independent Research Provider. Accessed March 6, 2022. rhg.com/what-we-do/.
  9. “Daniel H. Rosen.” Rhodium Group. February 17, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2022. rhg.com/team/daniel-h-rosen/.
  10. “China.” Rhodium Group. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://rhg.com/research-topic/china/.
  11. “The Path to Achieving Justice40.” White House. July 20, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2021/07/20/the-path-to-achieving-justice40/.
  12. “Justice40 Initiative: Mapping Race and Ethnicity.” Rhodium Group. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://rhg.com/research/justice40-initiative-mapping-race-and-ethnicity/.
  13. “Justice40 Initiative: Mapping Race and Ethnicity.” Rhodium Group. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://rhg.com/research/justice40-initiative-mapping-race-and-ethnicity/.
  14. Justice40. December 6, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.thejustice40.com/.
  15. “Rhodium Group.” Heising-Simons Foundation. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://www.hsfoundation.org/grants/search-our-grants/?keyword=rhodium+group&program=&amount-min=&amount-max=&year-min=From&year-max=To.
  16. “Rhodium Group.” Hewlett Foundation. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://hewlett.org/grants/?keyword=rhodium%20group%20%E2%80%93%20for%20the%20evaluation%20of%20tax%20credit%20incentives%20for%20low%20and%20zero%20carbon%20technologies&sort=relevance¤t_page=1.
  17. “Environment.” Hewlett Foundation. September 23, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2022. hewlett.org/programs/environment/.
  18. “Rhodium Group 2021.” Rockefeller Foundation. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.rockefellerfoundation.org/grant/rhodium-group-2021-2/.
  19. Ahmed, Saqib Iqbal. “BlackRock profit beats estimates as assets top $7 trillion.” Reuters. January 15, 2020. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.reuters.com/article/us-blackrock-results/blackrock-profit-beats-estimates-as-assets-top-7-trillion-idUSKBN1ZE1E4
  20. Lord, James. “BlackRock launches MSCI China ETF in Europe.” ETF Strategy. June 25, 2019. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.etfstrategy.com/blackrock-launches-msci-china-etf-in-europe-94578/.
  21. “BlackRock and Rhodium partner on climate analytics.” BlackRock. Accessed March 6, 2022. www.blackrock.com/us/individual/about-us/blackrock-rhodium-partner-on-climate-analytics.
  22. “Daniel H. Rosen.” Rhodium Group. February 17, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2022. rhg.com/team/daniel-h-rosen/.
  23. “Kate Larsen.” Rhodium Group. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://rhg.com/team/kate-larsen/.
  24. “Trevor Houser.” Rhodium Group. Accessed March 6, 2022. https://rhg.com/team/trevor-houser/.
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