TERI-NA (The Energy and Resources Institute, North America) was set up as a 501(c)(3) company in Washington DC in 1990. In these years, TERI-NA has focused on a set of activities that have helped establish its credentials, resilience, and financial sustainability. Its activities have centred around conducting research and organizing workshops/conferences to sensitize the decision-makers in North America to developing countries’ concern about energy and environment.

TERI-NA is backed up by significant resources available at TERI India. Since its inception in 1974, TERI has progressed by leaps and bounds and now boasts of an asset base of $50 million and a staff strength of over 600, making it the largest, independent, not-for-profit research institution in the developing world and possibly wider. Like TERI-NA, TERI has set up an affiliate institute in London, UK (TERI Europe), in January 2000. Besides, TERI has established its presence in Tokyo, Japan (TERI Japan), in Petaling Jaya, Malayasia (TERI South-East Asia) and in Dubai (TERI Gulf Centre). TERI's research spread, credibility and networking also reflect in the attractiveness of TERI-NA as a vehicle for voicing the concerns of developing countries and establishing the importance of sustainable development in a globalised yet extensively poor world.