ExxonMobil

InfluenceMap Score
for Climate Policy Engagement
D
Performance Band
45%
Organization Score
44%
Relationship Score
Sector:
Energy
Head​quarters:
Irving, United States
Brands and Associated Companies:
Esso, Mobil, Exxon
Official Web Site:
Wikipedia:

Climate Lobbying Overview: ExxonMobil appears to be unsupportive of most forms of climate regulation, while simultaneously promoting an energy policy agenda that would accelerate fossil fuel development. The company retains an extensive network of memberships to industry associations that actively oppose climate-related policy globally.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: ExxonMobil issues high level statements that state support for climate action. In the company’s Advancing Climate Solutions 2022 Progress Report from January 2022, ExxonMobil supported the need to reduce emissions in line with the 2 degree Celsius goal. However, this top-line support for emissions reductions, is often coupled with statements that appear to caution against rapid emissions reductions. For example, supporting the need for 'striking the right balance in meeting all of society's needs', as stated by Darren Woods in December 2021, as a counterbalance, rather than a complementary aim.

ExxonMobil appears to support a specific combination of policies, focusing primarily around the company's support for an economy-wide carbon price. ExxonMobil frequently states that climate policies should be “sound”, market-driven, and focus on enabling “key technologies”, as revealed in its 2021 Annual Report, published in February 2022. Again, however, ExxonMobil's top line support for climate regulation is caveated with cautioning statements about the need to 'let market prices drive selection of solutions', and minimize regulatory complexity and administrative costs, as stated in its Political Contributions and Lobbying Report, accessed in January 2022.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Evidence suggests ExxonMobil has lobbied negatively on a number of policy streams. While the July 2022 update of Advancing Climate Solutions Report appeared to support a carbon tax, other evidence shows that the company’s support is undermined by major exceptions it specifies for the tax. For instance, ExxonMobil’s support for a carbon dividend plan initiated by the Climate Leadership Council (CLC) in its 2020 Energy & Carbon Summary comes with a number of caveats, which previously included the rollback of the US Clean Power Plan. Evidence from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that, in February 2021, ExxonMobil opposed the introduction of a national carbon tax in the Netherlands in an email to the country’s Vice President’s Cabinet.

ExxonMobil submitted a proposal in January 2022 with a mixed position on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed methane standards. In this, ExxonMobil appeared to support extending the regulations to address flaring and supporting reducing methane emissions; however, it advocated for limiting the regulations to larger wells, and does not support the EPA's proposal to allow local communities to monitor and report on large methane leaks affecting their communities.

ExxonMobil has declined to participate in CDP Climate Change Survey since 2018.

Positioning on Energy Transition: ExxonMobil strongly supports the long-term use of oil and gas in the energy mix and makes extensive use of social media advertising to communicate this position in 2020-2022, while also lobbying for the continued role for fossil fuels in regulations across the world. In the company’s testimony to the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce in April 2022, CEO Darren Woods appeared to support policies to encourage investment in oil and gas.

The company has also directly engaged on a range of policy and legislative items impacting the energy mix. In December 2021, ExxonMobil was reported to be opposing bans on fossil gas connections in new buildings in New York. In the EU, according to an FOI of a meeting between ExxonMobil and DG Move (EU Department of Mobility and Transport), ExxonMobil appeared to try to persuade EU policymakers to promote low-carbon fuels alongside electrification for decarbonizing vehicles in April 2021.

ExxonMobil has increasingly publicized its support for carbon capture and storage (CCS/CCUS) technologies in 2021-22. There is evidence in the Advancing Climate Solutions July 2022 Progress Update to suggest ExxonMobil is using its support for CCS to lobby for 'technology-neutral' policies, which treat fossil fuels with CCS on par with renewable energies. In April 2022, ExxonMobil submitted comments to US Council of Environmental Quality’s CCUS Guidance, advocating for a quicker and streamlined permitting process for CCUS infrastructure, without clarifying for what purpose CCUS should be deployed.

Industry Association Governance: ExxonMobil has partially disclosed information regarding its indirect influence over climate policy via industry associations through its 2021 Climate Lobbying Report and has undertaken a review of 51 industry associations. However, apart from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the four associations in which the company had identified misalignment with, ExxonMobil has not specified details of its role in most of the organizations' governing bodies or influence over their climate change policy positions. ExxonMobil retains memberships to industry associations that actively lobby against climate policy such as the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association, the Western States Petroleum Association, among others.

A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.

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.

QUERIES
DATA SOURCES
0NSNSNS-1-1NS
11NS2-10-1
00NS0001
11NA1211
1NA-2NANANANS
10NS-200-1
0NSNSNS01NS
1NSNSNS-1NSNS
-10NS-2-2NSNS
-1-1NS-1-1-1-1
11NS001NS
1NS-2NANANANS
NSNSNSNSNSNSNS
Strength of Relationship
STRONG
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WEAK
 
23%
 
23%
 
42%
 
42%
 
60%
 
60%
 
31%
 
31%
 
39%
 
39%
 
61%
 
61%
 
54%
 
54%
 
38%
 
38%
 
52%
 
52%
 
44%
 
44%
 
70%
 
70%
 
58%
 
58%
 
38%
 
38%
 
46%
 
46%
 
41%
 
41%
 
31%
 
31%
 
59%
 
59%
 
34%
 
34%
 
26%
 
26%
 
21%
 
21%
 
49%
 
49%
 
28%
 
28%
 
41%
 
41%
 
51%
 
51%
 
43%
 
43%
 
48%
 
48%
 
48%
 
48%
 
63%
 
63%
 
59%
 
59%
 
43%
 
43%
 
35%
 
35%
 
51%
 
51%
 
59%
 
59%
 
24%
 
24%

How to Read our Relationship Score Map

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.