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.
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
The Chief Digital Impact and Sustainability Officer for BT Group PLC, Andy Wales, is a member of the CBI Energy and Climate Change Board. The BT Digital Impact and Sustainability team is a part of the CBI Energy and Climate Change working group as well.
Andy Wales
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
The Chief Digital Impact and Sustainability Officer for BT Group PLC, Andy Wales, is a member of the CBI Energy and Climate Change Board. The BT Digital Impact and Sustainability team is a part of the CBI Energy and Climate Change working group as well.
Andy Wales
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.
Climate Lobbying Overview: BT Group PLC displays limited but positive engagement on climate policy in the UK. The company has expressed top-line support for climate action, and has advocated for policies supporting the decarbonization of transport through the UK Electric Coalition by transitioning to electric vehicles by 2030 in the UK.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: BT Group PLC has communicated positive top-line messaging on climate policy. The company is transparent about climate change science and acknowledges the relationship between human activities and climate-induced negative impacts. BT Group presented its support of net-zero by 2050 and sustainable development in line with a 1.5°C target through a joint letter with the We Mean Business Coalition in October 2021, calling on governments to set more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The company also signed a joint letter with the Corporate Leaders Groups (CLG) UK which voiced high-level support of the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UK’s 2050 net-zero target. The letter also called on the UK government to set consistent climate policies in order to achieve these goals. In the joint letter with the We Mean Business Coalition, BT Group showed its support of climate change regulations, including fossil fuel subsidies removal and carbon pricing.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: BT Group PLC appears to be positively engaged on climate change policy issues, including renewable energy legislation and GHG emissions standards, but its overall engagement remains limited. In its 2021 Digital Impact and Sustainability Report, published in May 2021, the company stated support for an overall transition of global markets towards renewable power, in support of the net-zero carbon goal of the UK Government. The company also called on the UK Government to set more ambitious NDC emissions reduction targets in a joint letter from the Corporate Leaders Groups (CLG), published in December 2020.
Positioning on Energy Transition: BT Group PLC is supportive of transitioning the energy mix, and it has made positive statements on the decarbonization of the transport sector. In its 2021 Digital Impact and Sustainability Report, BT Group expressed its support for the UK government’s target to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles sales by 2030. In June 2020, Philip Jansen, the Chief Executive of BT Group, made a statement to support the transition to low and zero emissions vehicles as a way to move the UK towards a low- carbon economy. BT Group also signed a joint letter with the Corporate Leaders Groups (CLG) UK in December 2020, calling on the UK government to remove fossil fuel subsidies and phase out coal-fired power generation.
Industry Association Governance: BT Group PLC does not disclose its industry association memberships and details on indirect climate-related lobbying activities including positions of industry associations or how the company is attempting to influence these positions in its annual report. The company has not published an audit of its climate policy alignment with industry associations that it holds membership to. However, in its 2020 CDP Climate Change response, BT Group disclosed membership to trade associations positively engaged on climate policy including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which takes a positive stance on the UK climate change policies towards decarbonization.