Group Urges Congress to Review Environmental Law Institute Ties to China

State Armor, a national security organization, sent a report to congressional leadership Tuesday urging an investigation into the Environmental Law Institute. The report examines the institute’s past work in China and its Climate Judiciary Project, which has trained more than 2,000 U.S. judges since 2018.

The letter attached to the report states that the institute’s China-related activities over three decades advanced Chinese strategic interests while constraining U.S. energy producers. State Armor also raised questions about whether foreign ties could affect perceptions of judicial impartiality in the training programs.

The spokesperson said the work consisted of sharing evidence-based practices on environmental regulation and did not advance any government interests. The institute, founded in 1969 and based in Washington, D.C., states on its website that it has worked since the mid-1990s to improve environmental rule of law in China through workshops, roundtables, and training for judges and regulators.

May, the institute’s journal published an English-language paper by two academics from Chinese state-run universities on environmental protection progress in China. In June, the institute hosted a Chinese legal scholar who had completed an ELI fellowship in 2021 for a panel on global career pathways in environmental law.

State Armor cited public records indicating that some organizations the institute previously worked with have ties to the Chinese Communist Party or the People’s Liberation Army. The institute did not respond to requests for comment on the May paper or the June panel.