Climate Lobbying Overview: Daimler has actively engaged in climate policy in the EU and United States in 2019-21. The company appears to show unclear or mixed levels of support for key climate policies for road transport, such as CO2 standards, while advocating for measures to support EV infrastructure expansion. Daimler holds memberships to a number of highly regressive industry associations in Germany, the EU and US.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Daimler appears supportive of efforts to limit emissions in line with targets set out by the IPCC, signalling support for limiting global average temperature rise to 2°C, or ideally 1.5°C, and emphasizing the need to accelerate decarbonization on its corporate website in July 2020. The company also appears to support the Paris Agreement, according to its 2020 Sustainability Report and a September 2021 press release. Additionally, it appeared to support the US re-joining the Paris Agreement in a February 2021 Tweet. While Daimler has indicated broad support for government regulation to support the decarbonization of transportation, it appears to favour market-based solutions, stating in its 2020 Sustainability Report that “governments should more strongly mobilize market forces for the goal of climate protection”. The company has also suggested it supports carbon pricing in its 2020 Sustainability Report and in a September 2019 Tweet by Daimler CEO, Ola Källenius, however it is unclear whether it supports the necessary regulatory action. Daimler also appears supportive of the EU Green Deal, signalling its commitment to the goals in a February 2021 Tweet.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Daimler appears to show mixed levels of support for GHG emissions standards for road transport. A July 2021 Daimler press response to the EU Fit for 55 package, which includes a 2035 zero-emissions target for light-duty vehicles, took an unclear position on the policy, with the company’s development chief stating that a zero-emissions 2035 target is very ambitious. Daimler's 2021 CDP response discloses that regarding EU CO2 standards "any tightening of current CO2 targets should be accompanied by ambitious binding targets for infrastructure (charging and H2) on EU member states level", suggesting that the company has conditioned its support for higher CO2 targets on accompanying higher binding targets for charging and refuelling infrastructure. The company previously indicated it would not argue for EU CO2 targets for light-duty vehicles to be delayed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

In the US, Daimler has opposed more ambitious energy efficiency standards and GHG emissions goals. In a September 2021 Mercedes-Benz consultation response to US GHG emissions standards for vehicles, Daimler appeared to not support higher GHG emissions stringency options and supports numerous flexibilities in compliance. In its 2021 CDP Climate Change Information Request, the company stated support for one national program on road transport GHG reduction without regulatory fragmentation for states like California. In its 2020 CDP response, Daimler also indicated that it has pushed for an agreement between California and Federal Regulators on ONP, implying a reduction in stringency for California's CAFE regulations.

Daimler CEO, Ola Källenius, has repeatedly shown support for a carbon tax, advocating for its implementation in a July 2021 Salzburger Nachrichten media report, and stating in a January 2020 interview that a “tradable” tax that is “universal across industries … would be the most economically and resource-efficient way of solving problems of CO2”. In an April 2021 Independent media report, Daimler further called on European policymakers to boost incentives for climate-neutral technologies, including taxing carbon and emissions trading. Daimler also appears to support an expansion of renewable energy in the energy mix, calling for a massive acceleration of capacity build-up of renewable energy in Europe in a Joint CEO letter to the EU Commission. A July 2021 Daimler Tweet further seems to advocate for a 55% 2030 EU GHG emissions target.

Positioning on Energy Transition: According to its 2020 Sustainability Report, Daimler supports the decarbonization of transportation through electrification, as well as the increased use of synthetic fuels and hydrogen. The company has argued for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to play a part in the decarbonization of transport and has advocated for measures to support this, including expanded hydrogen infrastructure. The company has called for 300 heavy-duty hydrogen filling stations in Europe to be built by 2025, and 1,000 stations along European roads by 2030, according to a May 2021 media report. Daimler CEO, Ola Källenius, advocated for zero-emissions hydrogen use in key sectors such as heavy industry and transport in an April 2021 Volvo Group and Daimler joint press release.

In a December 2020 joint statement, Daimler signalled its support for decarbonization by advocating for commercial vehicles to be fossil free by 2040, although no policy mechanism to support this ambition was laid out. In November 2020, Daimler welcomed the launch of Germany’s policy package to shift to low emissions vehicles, with Daimler CEO, Ola Källenius, describing the package as "exactly right". In November 2021, Mercedes-Benz, a subsidiary of Daimler, signed a global pledge made at COP26 supporting a global phase out of ICE-powered vehicles in leading markets by 2035 and globally by 2040. However, Daimler's CEO further appeared unsupportive of policies to ban ICE vehicles in an interview regarding supporting such a pledge in November 2021. Furthermore, according to the Financial Times, Källenius supported the ending of the COVID-19 related stimulus for electric vehicles in November 2020.

Daimler also appears to support electric vehicle charging infrastructure policies. In a July 2021 Salzburger Nachrichten media report, Daimler CEO, Ola Källenius, expressed support for the expansion of EV charging infrastructure in the EU and member states. Daimler also advocated for more comprehensive charging infrastructure in a July 2021 media statement. Daimler does not appear to have disclosed a clear, recent position on ICE phase-out policies.

Industry Association Governance: Daimler publicly discloses its memberships of a number of trade associations in a dedicated disclosure in its annual sustainability report, but it does not provide any further details of the company's role within each organization's governing bodies, nor its influence over their climate change policy positions. Daimler has not conducted an audit of its trade association memberships. Daimler’s CEO, Ola Källenius, is on the board of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and is the Vice-President of the German Automotive Association (VDA). The company is a member of a number of groups which have maintained regressive policies on climate policy including the US-based Alliance for Automotive Innovation, US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and German-based Federation of German Industries (BDI).