Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Devon Energy Corporation (Devon Energy) appears to have broadly negative engagement on climate change, with evidence of engagement on specific climate policies in the United States. The company has consistently promoted a continued role for oil and fossil gas in the energy mix and its CEO is a board member of American Exploration and Production Council (AXPC) and American Petroleum Institute (API), two highly negatively engaging industry associations.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Devon Energy appears to have limited top-line messaging on climate policy. In its 2023 Sustainability report, released in June 2023, Devon appeared to suggest that there must be a compromise between limiting global warming and supplying energy, implying there is a link between the two. However, it does not explicitly state that there is a direct link between GHG emissions and climate change. Devon appears to support climate change regulation in its 2023 Political Activity and Lobbying Report, however qualifies this support on the basis that regulations balance "economic, environmental, and energy security needs", without specifying what this entails. In the same report, Devon expressed support for the UN Climate Treaty.
Engagement with Climate-related Regulations: Devon appears to engage with both positive and negative positions on US climate policy, with a focus on GHG emissions regulations. Both Devon’s 2023 CDP report and 2023 sustainability report stated support for federal methane regulations that encourage “innovation and flexibility.” While Devon demonstrated supportive positions in its October 2023 comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed methane emissions reporting rule, where it appeared to support the use of empirical data across every emission source category and advocate for the use of advanced methane and GHG detection technologies, it also endorsed the comments of API and the AXPC, both of which emphasized significant concerns with the proposed revisions. Similarly, in January 2022 comments to the EPA alongside Chevron and ExxonMobil, Devon stated support for a "continuous" methane detection framework while pushing back on the EPA's proposal for frequent optical gas imaging (OGI) surveys to detect methane leaks in upstream oil and gas facilities.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Devon appears to take unsupportive positions on the energy transition, although its engagement is limited. In its 2023 Political Activity and Lobbying Report, released in 2024, Devon insisted that oil and gas “must” be a part of any low-carbon energy system. This position was repeated in 2024 Sustainability report, released in July 2024, where it stated that oil and gas “remain crucial” in meeting global energy demand. In its 2022 Political Activity and Lobbying Report, released in 2023, Devon advocated against a federal “one size fits all” approach to regulating oil and gas, and appeared to call for the growth of US energy production. In an April 2022 hearing with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Devon CEO Rick Muncrief advocated for the long-term role of oil and fossil gas in the energy mix.
Industry Association Governance: Devon is somewhat transparency on its indirect lobbying activities via industry associations. Its CEO remains a board member of the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the American Exploration and Production Council (AXPC) and the company sits on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Devon is also a member of the US Chamber of Commerce. All four of these industry groups strategically oppose climate policy in the US.
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 2024.