Tipping Point in Corporate Attitudes to Climate Policy

InfluenceMap observed and analysed an outbreak of support for climate policy leading up to and during COP 21 in Paris. This so-called “Paris effect” means that over half the global 100 industrial companies are now advocating for emissions reductions in line with 2C. Furthermore, a third of these 100 leading industrial corporations are explicitly supporting strands of legislation that put a price on carbon.

Read the report here.

From the pro-climate companies, InfluenceMap has ascertained true leaders who support progressive climate policy in a proactive and determined manner. These include visionary company Unilever, electric utilities National Grid and Iberdrola and electric vehicle company Tesla, all of whom appear to be “all in” for 1.5C and a low-carbon future.

Nigel Topping, CEO of We Mean Business: “The trend of big business actively supporting ambitious climate legislation is important given the influence the corporate sector has over policy globally. This is a good start. We are urging more and more businesses and investors to commit to responsible corporate engagement on climate policy – so that what is now a trend becomes business as usual.“

Additional support is needed from the silent leaders within the technology, telecoms, healthcare and consumer goods sectors. Companies such as Cisco Sytems andVodafone appear to accept the post-Paris agenda but fail to demonstrate support for progressive climate policy in the same manner that the true leaders do.

The laggards continue to be the fossil fuel sectors (ExxonMobil, BP) and certain energy intensive users (BASF, Dow). While they may have been be exhibiting various degrees of public support for progressive climate policy (especially in the lead up to COP21), they have continued to undermine the detailed implementation of legislation at the national and regional levels.

The report can be found here.