We have expanded the list of climate policies we assess company engagement with to incorporate land-use related policy, referring to legislative or regulatory measures to enhance and protect ecosystems and land where carbon is being stored. Assessments under this category are currently underweighted in terms of their contribution to the overall company metrics. This weighting will be progressively increased over the next 6 months.
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Open PDF file of Data Source
Climate Lobbying Overview: Aurubis has consistently engaged negatively on EU climate-related regulations, including the EU Emissions Trading System and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, despite expressing top-line support for the EU Green Deal. Aurubis also limits its communications on the energy transition to top-line support for renewables and green hydrogen/ammonia.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Aurubis has limited top-line communications on climate policy, however those it has disclosed appear to show general support for policy while emphasizing impacts on industry competitiveness. In its Sustainability report 19/20, published March 2021, Aurubis CEO Roland Harings appeared to support the EU’s Green Deal and its 2050 net-zero target. In the company’s Annual report 2020/21, published in December 2021, Harings expressed the company’s support for “the European climate targets”, however he did not specify which targets. Despite this, in a December 2020 consultation response to the EU Commission, Aurubis qualified its support for climate policy with provisions that ensure policy does not impact the competitiveness of emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Aurubis has consistently engaged negatively on climate-related regulations in the EU. In a June 2022 consultation response to the EU Commission, Aurubis appeared to oppose the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), stating that climate provisions should not be included in the EU IED, and emphasizing the risk of duplication of regulations should they be included. In a June 2022 open letter by Energy Intensive Industries CEOs, Aurubis Roland Harings was unsupportive of reforms to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the implementation of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in the EU. The letter stated that the proposed changes to both regulations will overburden companies, weaken existing carbon leakage provisions, and harm industry competitiveness.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Aurubis’s positions on the energy transition appear to be limited to top-line statements on the energy mix. In its Annual report 2021/22, published January 2023, CEO Roland Harings appeared to support faster timelines on developing and rolling out green and blue ammonia, and a policy environment to support it. Aurubis also stated that green hydrogen is a key technology for decarbonizing industry in its Sustainability report 19/20, published March 2021. Additionally, in its Annual report 2021/22, published January 2023, the company stated that it welcomes the accelerated expansion of renewable energy, but that supply security has to be ensured in the process. Elsewhere, in a December 2022 press release Aurubis COO Dr. Heiko Arnold appeared to support the electrification of transport, stating that electric mobility and the green energy transition require “urgently needed progress”.
Industry Association Governance: Aurubis has not provided a clear or detailed disclosure of its industry associations, nor has the company published a review of its industry association memberships. In its 2022 CDP response, the company did disclose its membership to five industry associations, however it did not include information on the climate positions and engagement activities of its associations. Aurubis is a member of Eurometaux and the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), both of which have been unsupportive of EU climate policies including the EU ETS and CBAM.