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)
A senior executive of Caterpillar is on the USCC Board of Directors (as of August 2022)
Denise Johnson
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar is a member of the US-Iraq Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar is a member of the US-Japan Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar is a member of the US-Turkey Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Member of US-Pakistan Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Exec. is on the board of directors of Brazil-US Business Council, which operates under the US Chamber of Commerce
Odair Renosto
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar is a member of the US-UK Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Senior Executive of Caterpillar is on the Board of Directors of USCC
Bradley Halverson
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
A senior executive of Caterpillar is on the USCC Board of Directors (as of August 2022)
Denise Johnson
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar is a member of the US-Iraq Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar is a member of the US-Japan Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar is a member of the US-Turkey Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Member of US-Pakistan Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Exec. is on the board of directors of Brazil-US Business Council, which operates under the US Chamber of Commerce
Odair Renosto
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar is a member of the US-UK Business Council
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Senior Executive of Caterpillar is on the Board of Directors of USCC
Bradley Halverson
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
A senior executive of Caterpillar is on the Board of Directors (as of August 2022)
Wayne Zemke
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
A senior executive of Caterpillar is on the Board of Directors (as of August 2022)
Wayne Zemke
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar was a member of America's Power as of January 2021, unclear if still a member (as of December 2022)
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Caterpillar was a member of America's Power as of January 2021, unclear if still a member (as of December 2022)
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
The Chairman of Caterpillar is a member of Business Roundtable (as of August 2022)
D. James Umperly
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
Catepillar CEO is on Executive Committee
Doug Oberhelman
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
The Chairman of Caterpillar is a member of Business Roundtable (as of August 2022)
D. James Umperly
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
Catepillar CEO is on Executive Committee
Doug Oberhelman
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Executive of a subsidiary is on the Executive Committee of World Coal (Janpeter Bekkering, Caterpillar Global Mining) (as of August 2022)
Janpeter Bekkering
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Executive of Caterpillar Global Mining is on the Executive Committee of World Coal
Janpeter Bekkering
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Executive of a subsidiary is on the Executive Committee of World Coal (Janpeter Bekkering, Caterpillar Global Mining) (as of August 2022)
Janpeter Bekkering
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Executive of Caterpillar Global Mining is on the Executive Committee of World Coal
Janpeter Bekkering
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
A major Caterpillar subsidiary (Caterpillar UK Limited) is a member of SMMT (as of August 2022)
n/a
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
A major Caterpillar subsidiary (Caterpillar UK Limited) is a member of SMMT (as of August 2022)
n/a
--no extract--
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: Caterpillar appears to have highly limited engagement with climate policy and weak disclosure of its positions and engagement from 2019-22. The company recently updated its top-line positions to include support for climate action in general, and removed more negative statements from its website. At the same time, the company remains a member of numerous industry associations actively lobbying against climate policy around the world and serves on the Board of Directors at both the National Association of Manufacturers and US Chamber of Commerce.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: On the climate page of its corporate website, accessed August 2022, Caterpillar offers a general statement accepting the science of climate change, global efforts to reduce emissions in line with the science, and the goals of the Paris Agreement. It does not take a clear position on the need for climate change regulation. Previously, in a statement removed from its website by the end of 2021, the company suggested uncertainty in the science of climate change by stating “we understand that some atmospheric scientists believe atmospheric GHG accumulation can occur as a result of inefficient or excessive fossil fuel consumption.”
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Caterpillar demonstrates highly limited engagement with specific climate policies from 2019-22. It does not disclose its positions toward, or engagement with, any specific climate policy on its website and did not respond to CDP’s 2021 climate change information request. In its Q3 2021 to Q2 2022 federal LDA reports, Caterpillar discloses engagement on the corporate tax provisions of the Build Back Better Act without disclosing a position or specifying engagement on the bill's climate provisions.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Caterpillar appears to have limited engagement with policy related to the energy transition from 2019-22. Prior communications on Caterpillar’s corporate website suggesting support for a high GHG emissions energy mix via “energy diversification” and the buildout of fossil fuel infrastructure, such as new fossil gas reserves, have been removed as of August 2022. In its Q1 and Q2 2022 federal LDA reports, Caterpillar discloses engagement on implementation of the US Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, specifically on its provisions related to surface transportation, without disclosing a position or any further details.
Industry Association Governance: Caterpillar has disclosed an incomplete list of its memberships to industry associations on its website and did not respond to CDP’s 2021 information request. It has not published a formal review of its alignment with its industry associations. The company is a member of numerous US-based and global industry associations and third-party groups actively lobbying in opposition to climate policy; Caterpillar executives also serve on the Board of both the US Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers, both of which are actively obstructing US climate policy, including the Build Back Better and Inflation Reduction Act. The company is also on the Board of the Consumer Energy Alliance, a 501(c)4 group that is negatively influencing US climate policy at the national and state level.
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 2022.