Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Ørsted appears to be strategically and positively engaged on various climate policies in the EU and US, including renewable energy targets, energy efficiency policy and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. The company has also engaged positively on the energy transition, particularly on the use of renewable hydrogen.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Ørsted’s top-line communications on climate change appear consistently positive. Ørsted has consistently stated support for drastic action to reduce emissions in line with 1.5°C and net zero by 2050, including in its 2024 Annual Report, published in February 2025. In an October 2024 joint letter, Ørsted supported more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the build up to COP29. Ørsted also supported the Fit for 55 package in August 2023 comments submitted on the EU Industrial Carbon Management Strategy.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Ørsted appears to engage positively and actively on climate-related regulations, particularly in relation to renewable energy.
In August 2023 comments, Ørsted supported the EU Renewable Energy Directive III. The company also actively supported renewable energy storage targets in a December 2024 Joint Pledge. Alongside this the company CEO, Rasmus Errboe, supported renewable energy targets in a May 2025 press release.
In regard to emissions trading, the company supported the linking of 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. In a June 2023 consultation response Ørsted also supported a broad range of measures that would increase the stringency of the EU ETS post-2030, including support for an expansion to other sectors.
Furthermore, Ørsted’s support for energy efficiency policy can be seen in a March 2025 letter to Michigan's Congressional Delegation, where the company supported Michigan's congressional delegation to defend the Inflation Reduction Act's energy efficiency tax credits. Ørsted’s CEO also strongly supported a package of policy for energy efficiency in a joint letter in October 2024.
Positioning on Energy Transition: While Ørsted appears to strongly support transitioning to a renewables dominated energy mix, the company also appeared to advocate negatively on key energy transition policies in 2024.
The company communicated support on the need for government intervention to support a transition toward renewables in November 2024 feedback on EU’s Energy Security Fitness Check. Ørsted also strongly supported specific measures toward zero-carbon technologies and transport electrification where it advocated for Michigan's congressional delegation to defend the Inflation Reduction Act's clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits in a letter to Michigan's Congressional Delegation in March 2025.
However, in February 2024 comments, Ørsted advocated for major exceptions to the Inflation Reduction Act's clean hydrogen tax credit. The company supported specific clean hydrogen production measures but advocated for less stringent additionality and time matching requirements and called for early hydrogen projects that begin construction by 2028 to be granted a 15% annual matching allowance, and for at least 10% of existing clean energy resources to be counted as eligible incremental sources. In a testimony on the same policy in March 2024, the company provided similar arguments. Finally in a March 2024 meeting summary found via Freedom of Information Request, Ørsted did not appear to fully support the decarbonization of the steel industry stressing economic feasibility, including with regard to scaling up the use of hydrogen.
Industry Association Governance: Ørsted has disclosed a list of memberships to industry associations in its 2024 Annual Report, published in February 2025. The company has published a review of its alignment with these groups on climate change policy engagement. Ørsted holds board membership to the American Clean Power Association (formerly AWEA) and WindEurope and has a direct membership to Advanced Energy United (AEU), all of which are strongly supportive of climate policy in the US and EU.
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 2025.