Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: SSE exhibits strategic engagement that is supportive of science-aligned climate policy, including in its top-line statements as well as in its advocacy on specific climate policy and the energy transition.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: SSE demonstrates positive top-line messaging on climate policy. In its 2024 Sustainability Report, published June 2024, SSE’s then-CEO Alistair Phillips-Davies supported the goals of the Paris Agreement. The company also supported limiting global warming to 1.5°C in its 2025 Sustainability Report published June 2025, and supported the target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in an October 2024 joint letter to the UK government. Phillips-Davies also supported the implementation of the EU Fit for 55 Package in a March 2024 joint letter.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: SSE has consistently engaged positively on climate-related regulations in 2024 and 2025, including on emissions trading, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulations, renewable energy, and energy efficiency policies.
For example, the company supported linking the UK and EU emissions trading systems (ETS), while clearly continuing to support the need for the policies to contribute to climate goals in a joint letter to policymakers in April 2025. SSE has also been broadly supportive of renewable energy policy in its 2024 Sustainability Report, published June 2024, and on X, in August 2024, where then-CEO Alistair Phillips-Davies supported specific renewable energy targets including the target to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
SSE also holds a positive position on energy efficiency and circular economy policy. For example, the company supported circular economy targets in a consultation response on Scotland's draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map in March 2024. In a March 2024 joint letter, Phillips-Davies supported government regulation on circular economy, in particular to improve circular product design, reuse, repair and recycling. In the same joint letter, he also broadly supported energy efficiency legislation. SSE also signed on to a letter supporting energy efficiency legislation for industry and buildings in May 2025.
In regard to GHG emission reduction policies, Phillips-Davies supported an EU 2040 GHG emissions reductions target of 90 to 95% compared to 1990 levels, in line with the highest ambition recommendations in a March 2024 joint letter and a February 2024 press release. The company also supported this target in its 2022-2023 Trade Association Climate and Policy Engagement Review published May 2024, and its 2024 Sustainability Report published June 2024.
Positioning on Energy Transition: SSE engages positively on transitioning the energy mix, supporting the role of renewables, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen.
In an October 2024 joint letter, SSE supported the transition to a low carbon economy and supported the phase out of fossil fuels. The company also supported specific regulatory measures to phase out GHG emission intensive technologies in heating in written evidence on the UK's Heating our Homes Inquiry in January 2024. Furthermore, SSE communicated support for measures to reduce unabated fossil gas in the energy mix and accelerate renewable deployment in its 2025 Net Zero Transition Report published in June 2025. SSE’s then-CEO Alistair Phillips-Davis also strongly supported the urgent decarbonization of the power sector by advocating for the removal of fossil fuel subsidies and supporting policy measures to transition towards zero-carbon technologies and infrastructure in a joint letter in March 2024.
On CCS and hydrogen, SSE appears to support the development and use of the technologies but frequently does not provide details on use cases, storage sites, or production methods in its communications, creating unclear positions. For example, Phillips-Davis supported the use of hydrogen and CCS alongside pumped storage, without specifying a production method for hydrogen or end-use sectors in the company’s 2025 Sustainability Report published in June 2025. On YouTube in June 2024, he also supported CO2 injection in oil and gas fields; however, it is unclear if this excludes CO2 use in enhanced oil and gas recovery.
Industry Association Governance: SSE has disclosed a complete list of its industry association memberships in its 2022-23 Trade Association Climate Review. However, the company's disclosure on its industry associations is limited to top-line climate statements without reference to specific climate policies, and is over 1 year old. The company is a member of WindEurope and American Clean Power Association both of which have engagement activities aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement, and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) which has increasingly positive positions on climate policy.
*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.