Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Walmart demonstrates policy engagement that is supportive of science-aligned climate policy. The company offers top-line support for global climate action and the energy transition, but appears to have engaged with very few specific climate policies across the 2022-25 time period. Notably, it endorsed the US Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Walmart has positive top-line messaging on climate policy. For example, in its “Policies and Guidelines” webpage accessed in July 2025, it stated its alignment with the science of climate change and support for GHG emissions reductions in line with the 1.5°C target. On the same webpage, same document, Walmart appeared to favor market-based responses to climate change over government regulation, although another page published in May 2024 stated that the company “continues to advocate for strong climate policy.” Walmart has also consistently supported the Paris Agreement, as evident in an April 2022 blog post.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Walmart appears to engage on a limited number of specific climate policies. At the global level, the company signed the October 2024 Bridge to Busan Declaration advocating for the Global Treaty on Plastics to include legally binding instruments covering the entire life-cycle of plastics, which echoed a similar position in an April 2024 business coalition letter on the same issue. ]. In the US, Walmart reported direct engagement in its Q1 2025 Federal Lobbying Disclosure on circular economy policies such as the Farm Bill and efforts to reduce food waste policies, however without disclosing a clear position. Moreover, in its corporate website accessed in July 2025, Walmart emphasized its commitment to soil and forestry sequestration for carbon offsetting, but did not disclose whether it supported related government policy toward this.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Walmart has positive, though generally limited, engagement regarding the energy transition. At the federal level in the US, Walmart CSO Kathleen McLaughlin expressed strong support for the climate provisions within the Inflation Reduction Act in an August 2022 C2ES press release, stating that the policy would enable economy-wide decarbonization and spur climate action. At the state level, in a Winston-Salem Journal article from December 2022, Walmart appealed to regulators to raise the ambition of Duke Energy’s carbon plan in North Carolina. The company has also directly advocated for community solar in April 2024 testimony to the Missouri House of Representatives. In December 2023 comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Walmart supported the Phase 3 GHG standards for heavy-duty vehicles.
Industry Association Governance: Walmart published a 2024 document on its website thatalists its general and board memberships to industry associations, but does not appear to have provided updated information since. The disclosure does not include details about the groups’ positions on climate policy, potential issues of misalignment with its own positions, or any attempts to address misalignment. Walmart serves on the board of directors of theClean Energy Buyers Association, which demonstrates mostly positive positions on climate policy. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon is a board member of the Business Roundtable, which takes a mix of positions on climate policy and has opposed the climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. McMillon was also chair of the Business Roundtable from 2019-2021. Walmart International CEO Judith McKenna sits on the Global Board of Directors on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s India Business Council, though Walmart has clarified in its disclosure that it does not hold general membership to the US Chamber of Commerce.
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.