Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Canadian Natural Resources Limited (“Canadian Natural”) exhibits strategic policy engagement that is oppositional to science-aligned climate policy. The company opposes federal carbon pricing and other emissions reduction policies in Canada, and promotes the expansion of oil and fossil gas production.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Canadian Natural previously expressed positive top-line messaging on climate policy but removed much of its climate-related content from its website and reporting after amendments to Canada’s Competition Act in June 2024. Before these changes, evidence on Canadian Natural’s website last accessed in July 2023 supported the goals of the Paris Agreement and GHG emissions reductions in line with 2°C, including efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C. These positions were no longer accessible as of October 2024 and continue to be inaccessible in August 2025. Evidence suggests the company may not fully support the need for climate regulation: for example, in a November 2023 interview with The Globe and Mail, Canadian Natural’s then-President Tim McKay raised concerns about increasing climate change regulations in Canada, citing the impact of rapid policy changes on industry.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policies: Canadian Natural engages negatively on climate-related regulations in Canada. The company has consistently opposed Canada’s proposed Oil and Gas Emissions Cap, including in a March 2024 joint letter to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and an April 2025 joint letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney. Canadian Natural appeared unsupportive of Canada’s methane regulations for the oil and gas sector in February 2024 consultation comments, criticizing the restrictions on flaring and venting, and advocating to weaken the frequency of the fugitive emissions survey requirements.
Canadian Natural’s position on carbon pricing in Canada has become more negative over time. In its 2023 CDP response, the company supported Canada’s federal and provincial industrial carbon pricing systems, provided they make allowance for competitiveness impacts on energy-intensive trade-exposed sectors. The company also called carbon pricing systems in Canada “effective and efficient” in a March 2024 joint letter. However, in an April 2025 joint letter, the company called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to repeal the industrial Output-Based Pricing System, which is the benchmark that standardizes stringency for Canada’s provincial carbon pricing systems.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Canadian Natural promotes a long-term role for oil and gas in Canada. The company directly engages with provincial governments to grow oil and fossil gas production and markets, as disclosed in a May 2025 British Columbia lobbying registration and a March 2025 Alberta lobbying registration, and promoted the economic and energy security benefits of continued oil production in March 2025 comments submitted to the Alberta Energy Regulator. President Scott Stauth advocated for “even larger and more long-term” oil projects in Canada and appeared to support the building of a new east-west pipeline across the country in March 2025 comments covered by Reuters. While Stauth supported government incentives for carbon capture and storage in a May 2024 earnings call, the purpose of this support was to enable expansion of oil production, a position misaligned with IPCC guidance.
Industry Association Governance: Canadian Natural disclosed a complete list of its industry association memberships in its 2023 Stewardship Report, published in July 2024, but has not released an assessment of climate policy engagement by its industry associations. The company holds board representation at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the Mining Association of Canada, the first of which is strategically engaged in opposition to science-aligned climate policy. The company is also one of the six founding members of the Pathways Alliance, which actively engages to influence positive public opinion around oil and weaken Canadian climate policy.
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.