The Molina Center for Strategic Studies in Energy and the Environment (Centro Molina para Estudios Estratégicos sobre Energía y Medio Ambiente) is an independent and non-profit organization established in 2005 to bring together international experts in science and engineering, economics, social and political sciences to engage in collaborative research related to energy and environment, to contribute to decision-making in public and private sectors, and to contribute to the training of future leaders in energy and environment through research and education initiatives.

The Center draws upon the experience gained from the Integrated Program on Urban, Regional and Global Air Pollution. This is a collaborative research and education program initiated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1999 and directed by Mario J. Molina and Luisa T. Molina to address in a coordinated and interdisciplinary manner the air pollution problems stemming from human activity in megacities and their impacts on human health, climate and ecosystems. The Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) has served as the initial case study for the Program's research and educational activities, the basis for the development of an integrated assessment of urban, regional, and global air pollution that takes into account the broader dimensions of the problem in order to devise more effective pollution control strategies.

The Center will focus primarily on efforts to make significant innovative contributions to energy and environmental sustainability through policy-relevant interdisciplinary research including holistic assessment of complex problems and possible solutions to meeting the demand for energy production and consumption, improvement of decision-making at all levels concerning environmental problems through better application of scientific and technological knowledge, and contributions to the training of future leaders through interdisciplinary research and by collaboration with leading academic and research institutions.