Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Daikin Industries is strategically engaged on climate policies globally with partially positive positions. Daikin actively promotes stronger energy efficiency standards for cooling and heating, and has expressed top-line support for renewables and Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB). However, Daikin retains memberships to industry associations such as Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) and the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association (JEMA), which have taken negative positions on some climate policies.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Daikin has generally positive top-line messaging on climate. In his New Year’s address in January 2024, Daikin’s CEO recognized the necessity of responding to climate change. Daikin appeared to support the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 2°C and the UNFCCC process in its 2024 Sustainability Report published in July 2024. In April 2023, Daikin co-signed a JCI statement, calling for more ambitious 2030 carbon pricing policy in Japan, referencing IEA’s recommended price level of 130 USD/t-CO2 for advanced economies in 2030.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: While there is some exception in its stance on e-waste policy, Daikin has generally supported global climate policies, particularly related to energy efficiency.
In India, Reuters reported in April 2025 that Daikin was among a group of companies suing the government in opposition to proposed reforms aimed at raising the minimum price for electronic waste recycling.
According to Daikin’s corporate website as of August 2024, it supports Zero Energy Building (ZEB) policies and subsidies in Japan to achieve the 2030 CO2 reduction targets for office buildings and residential facilities.
In May 2024, Daikin submitted a joint letter to the New York State Public Service Commission on the New Efficiency, supporting New York's Clean Heat program for the adoption of heat pumps and other energy-efficient heating and cooling strategies. In comments submitted to the California Energy Commission in May 2024 and June 2024, Daikin supported California's Proposed Energy Code amendments for 2025 with minor exceptions, as it supported its energy efficiency provisions while advocating for the inclusion of additional technologies to meet energy efficiency standards in certain applications.
In its 2023 CDP response, Daikin disclosed that it engaged with policymakers in Brazil to promote the introduction of new, high-efficiency energy labels for air conditioners by the government.
According to a March 2023 report by the Green Transformation (GX) League Symposium, Daikin encouraged the Japanese government to express its views on the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in order to benefit Japanese companies, but did not take a clear position on the policy.
In a comment submitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January 2023, Daikin supported the EPA’s goal to “phase down the usage of high-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants” in the US. In its 2023 Sustainability Report published in July 2023, Daikin broadly supported the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which calls for the reduction of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC).
Positioning on Energy Transition: Daikin actively engages on the energy transition with broadly positive positions, primarily in support of heat pumps.
In a presentation to the Japanese Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI)’s Kansai bureau in February 2024, Daikin appeared to support the COP28 pledge to triple renewables by 2030, and supported global rules and regulatory standardization of efficient heat pumps and coolants. At a meeting hosted by METI in April 2023, Daikin supported the transition to a low carbon economy in Japan, including EVs and heat pumps.
In its 2024 Sustainability Report, Daikin appeared to support policies in the EU Green Deal to promote heat pumps. In an October 2023 press release regarding an event with Belgium’s Federal Minister of Energy, the president of Daikin Europe called “on all governments....to create a level playing field for heat pump technology versus fossil fuel systems.”
In its 2024 Sustainability Report, Daikin broadly supported tax credits and subsidies for the purchase of heat pumps under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and had multiple engagements with U.S. federal government officials. According to press releases in October 2023 and May 2024 Daikin engaged with the California Energy Commission to support California’s 2030 goal for the dissemination of heat pumps.
In an August 2023 joint letter, as a member of the Ceres BICEP Network, Daikin supported the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s proposed power plant rules and advocated for more ambitious standards to address coal and gas plant GHG emissions.
Industry Association Governance: As of July 2024, Daikin has not provided a full list of its industry association memberships in its 2024 Sustainability Report, and has not provided details of its industry associations’ climate change policy positions. Daikin did not publish a review of its alignment with its industry associations on climate policy, nor did it provide a full account of its indirect climate engagement in its 2023 CDP response.
Daikin retains memberships in Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) and the Japan Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (JEMA), which appear to have engaged negatively and actively on many strands of climate change and energy regulation in Japan.
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 Q2 (Apr – June) 2025.