Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: BP is strategically engaged across multiple climate and energy policies globally, with overall partially aligned positions on policy pathways aiming to deliver the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. BP’s top line statements on climate change arelargely positive. However, the company’s positions on specific climate-related policies are mixed and BP also advocates for a continued role for fossil fuels in the energy mix.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: BP supports climate action in its top-line messaging. In its 2024 Sustainability Report, published March 2025, BP stated support for the Paris Agreement, stated support for the science of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and appeared to recognize the need for urgent action to combat climate change. The report also indicated support for government regulation to respond to climate change.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: BP is strategically engaged with climate-related regulations, with mixed positions. While BP states support for a ‘well-designed price on carbon - either a tax or cap-and-trade system’ on its corporate website, accessed August 2025, recent evidence suggests that BP is unsupportive of carbon taxation. For example, it appeared to not fully support the proposed Methane Fee in the US in March 2024 comments to policymakers, while in Canada in a January 2025 letter to policymakers, it advocated for “clean” liquid fuels blended with traditional fuels to be exempt from a carbon tax.
The company supports policy related to renewable energy. For example, it stated support for the Biden administration's 2030 offshore wind energy target in a February 2024 consultation response and supported an extension of the Clean Fuel Production Credit in April 2025 comments. In Australia, BP supported the proposed Hydrogen Production Tax incentive in a January 2025 consultation response. However, it appeared to not fully support the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive by advocating for the inclusion of ‘low carbon fuels’ in a June 2023 consultation response.
Regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations, BP appears supportive of regulations and standards that target the downstream sector, but unsupportive of regulation that aims to regulate upstream emissions. For example, BP was strongly supportive of New York State's Assembly Bill 964-A to implement a Clean Fuels Standard (CFS) in a May 2024 joint letter to policymakers, and also supported a low carbon liquid fuel standard for Australia in July 2024 comments. However, BP was unsupportive of the EU’s methane regulation for the oil and gas sector in an April 2025 joint letter to policymakers and also of Canada’s Oil and Gas Sector GHG Emissions Cap in February 2024 comments.
Positioning on Energy Transition: While BP appears to message positively surrounding the energy transition and the decarbonization of transport, it continues to advocate for new investments in fossil fuels. For example, in June 2025 comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, BP America advocated for new federal offshore oil and gas exploration leases while warning against any decision that limits new exploration. Previously, in its April 2025 comments on the North Sea’s Energy Future, BP appeared to not fully support a pause on new oil and gas licenses; advocating for re-licensing of relinquished areas, continued development of existing fields and for field life extension. However, the company’s position on the decarbonization of transport is more positive, for example in February 2025 comments the company supported the phase out of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by 2030.
BP’s corporate website, accessed August 2025, supports the development of hydrogen in a net-zero energy system. However, it appears to oppose policies which aim to ensure that renewable hydrogen uptake does not cause wider detrimental impacts. For example, BP opposed the proposed IRS 45V Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit, specifically the requirements on additionality and temporal and spatial matching in its February 2024 comments. This follows the company’s inclusion in a joint letter to policymakers in Illinois in May 2023 which advocated a similar position.
Industry Association Governance: BP has not publicly published a full review of its industry associations since April 2022, with an update published in April 2023. On its corporate website, accessed in August 2025, the company states that it conducted a review, but this does not appear to be publicly available. In its most recent April 2023 disclosure, BP gives details of any misalignment on climate change policy with industry associations it holds a membership with. However, BP only disclosed details of its influence with associations it found to be ‘partially aligned’, with no details given on memberships it has found to be ‘aligned’, and excluded 26 industry associations which are actively engaged on climate-related policy. BP outlined its ongoing engagement with four 'partially aligned' associations that are covered by InfluenceMap, including the American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers, the US Chamber of Commerce and Business Leadership South Africa.
A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information, see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2025.