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)
Centrica plc is on the CBI Energy and Climate Change Board and Centrica Energy is on the CBI Scotland Council (Correct as of August 2022)
not specified
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InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Centrica plc is on the CBI Energy and Climate Change Board and Centrica Energy is on the CBI Scotland Council (Correct as of August 2022)
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Centrica Storage Limited, a subsidiary of Centrica plc, is a member of Oil & Gas UK (Correct as of August 2022)
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Centrica Storage Limited, a subsidiary of Centrica plc, is a member of Oil & Gas UK (Correct as of August 2022)
not specified
--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: Centrica appears to be actively engaged on UK and European climate policy with mixed positions. Notably supporting carbon tax and emissions trading measures, but it seems unsupportive of renewable energy legislation. Centrica it has advocated in favor of a long-term role for fossil gas in the energy mix.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Centrica’s engagement with top-line messaging on climate policy appears to be broadly positive. The company stated support for the UK’s target to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and limiting global temperature increase to below 1.5°C globally in its October 2021 Climate Transition Plan. In 2021, the company’s CEO, Chris O’Shea, stated support for the UK government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. Also, in its October 2021 Climate Transition Plan, the organization positively engaged on the Paris Agreement. Centrica appears to support climate change regulation, in September 2021 signing a joint letter to US president Biden and congressional leaders to use government regulation to respond to climate change.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Centrica appears to have mixed engagement with climate change regulation, notably supporting carbon tax and emissions trading measures, but it seems unsupportive of renewable energy legislation. In its 2021 CDP Climate Change Information Response, Centrica supported a strengthening of the EU ETS, specifically supporting reforms to the Market Stability Reserve to increase the rate at which overall emissions allowances are reduced annually. It also supported the proposal to link the EU ETS to the UK ETS, and advocated for the auctioning of allowances in the UK scheme in the same CDP response. In its 2021 CDP response, the company advocated for the continuation of the UK Carbon Price Floor, supporting the UK government’s decision to hold the price at £18 per tonne of CO2. In April 2021 the news outlet Utility Week stated Centrica, alongside several other European utilities, supported the introduction of a carbon tax in the UK to deliver green heating ambitions.
The company stated support for the UK’s Future Home Standard, designed to improve energy efficiency in buildings, in its October 2021 Climate Transition Plan. In an April 2021 joint letter from the Ceres Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance Network, Centrica advocated for policymakers to support more ambitious federal light duty fuel economy standards and GHG standards in the US. However, the Financial Times reported in September 2021 that the company advocated for the removal of the Green Levy, used to boost renewable energy in the UK energy system, from UK consumer energy bills. Centrica also called for the UK’s Renewable Heat Incentive to expand the scope of renewable energy technologies to include non-renewable systems such as hybrid technologies, in its 2021 CDP response.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Centrica’s support for the transition of the energy mix appears to be mixed. In April 2022 on social media, the company stated high-level support for the UK Energy Strategy announcement, supporting renewable and nuclear energy to reduce the UK’s dependency on fossil fuels. At in November 2021 at COP26, Centrica signed the joint declaration on Accelerating the Transition to 100% Zero Emission Cars and Vans, supporting decarbonizing the transport sector, and signaling a commitment to phase out ICE-powered vehicles in leading markets by 2035 and globally by 2040. In its 2020 annual report, published in 2021, Centrica stated support for the UK government’s policy to ban new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. In its October 2021 Climate Transition Plan, Centrica further strengthened its position, by suggesting the ban on internal combustion engine vehicles should be brought forward.
Centrica has advocated for the long-term role of fossil gas in the energy mix. CEO O’Shea advocated in favor of fracking, unconventional fossil gas production in a September 2022 article by the Guardian. In a March 2021 Bloomberg article, the CEO, O’Shea, appeared to state support role of unabated fossil gas and hydrogen in the long-term. Additionally, on its website in 2019 the company supported the continued use of unabated fossil gas in the energy mix.
Industry Association Governance: Centrica does not appear to disclose a full list of its industry association memberships and indirect climate-related lobbying activities, nor has it published a full review of its alignment with industry groups. The company is a member of Confederation of British Industry (CBI), an association that is positively engaged on climate change policy. However, the company is also a member of Offshore Energies UK (formerly Oil and Gas UK, which appears to oppose ambitious climate change policy in the UK.
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 Q1 2023.