Climate Lobbying Overview: Anglo American has expressed top-line support for climate action and the energy transition in 2021, and appears supportive of the integration of green hydrogen into the energy mix in 2022. However, the company also appears to support a sustained role for coal in the energy mix, contrary to IPCC guidance, and has opposed some reforms to the Australian Safeguard Mechanism in 2022.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Anglo American appears supportive of climate action in its top-line messaging, however its transparent engagement on climate policy has been limited in 2022. In its 2021 Climate Change Report, published in October 2021, Anglo American supported the need to limit global warming to "well below" 2°C in line with the Paris Agreement. The company further supported the Paris Agreement on its corporate website, accessed in December 2022. In a December 2021 speech at the Mines and Money Conference, CEO Mark Cutifani supported emissions reductions in line with 1.5°C and net zero by 2050. Anglo American’s Industry Association Audit, published in April 2021, also stated the company’s support for the Paris Agreement, and supported the development of “effective and efficient policies” to respond to climate change. However, in the same Industry Association Audit, Anglo American appeared to favor market-based measures such as carbon pricing over other forms of regulation.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Anglo American appears to have limited transparent engagement on specific climate-related policies in 2021-22. The company did engage on Australian reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism in a September 2022 consultation response, wherein it supported some of the policies provisions but was unsupportive of others. For example, the company supported the removal of aggregate headroom and the use of high-standard international credits, but also supported financial assistance for both emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries (EITE) and industries outside of EITE sectors. Anglo American has also previously engaged on Australia’s federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). In 2019-2020, the company lobbied to weaken the EPBC Act’s regulation of project approvals for fossil fuel projects in Australia. In a 2020 consultation, Anglo American stated that it has contributed to, and supports the submissions of the Minerals Council of Australia and Queensland Resources Council, which advocated to exclude greenhouse gas emissions requirements from the legislation.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Anglo American does not appear to support a transition away from fossil fuels in line with IPCC guidance, however the company has increasingly supported the integration of green hydrogen into the energy mix. In an Amplats Climate Change report, published November 2022, the company supported the lifting of the 100MW cap on self-embedded generation in South Africa. Lifting the cap allows for further penetration of renewable energy into the energy mix via independent power producers. However, in its 2021 Industry Association Audit and 2020 Sustainability Report, published in 2021, Anglo American appeared to support a sustained role for coal in the energy mix without reference to the need for carbon capture and storage (CCS), emphasizing its importance to energy security and poverty alleviation. In 2021-22, Anglo American has increasingly messaged in support of the decarbonization of the energy mix via green hydrogen production. For example, in January and April 2022 tweets the company supported green hydrogen production, and in a February 2022 BusinessLive article, Anglo American supported the development of green hydrogen in South Africa. In an April 2021 UK consultation response on zero-emission vehicles, Anglo American directly advocated for policy support for blue hydrogen produced with fossil gas and CCS, alongside green hydrogen.

Industry Association Governance: Anglo American discloses its industry association memberships and has published two reviews of the company’s alignment with their positions on climate change, in 2019 and 2021. In its 2021 review, the company does not appear to identify any cases of misalignment, although outlined its engagement with the Queensland Resources Council which has engaged negatively on climate policy in Australia. Anglo American also retains memberships to more industry associations lobbying counter to the goals of the Paris Agreement, including the Minerals Council of Australia, and Eurometaux. It is unclear if Anglo American is still a member of the World Coal Association (WCA). Despite disclosing membership to the association in its 2021 review, the company does not appear on WCA’s membership list as of August 2022.

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 Q4 2022.

A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.