Climate Lobbying Overview: Naturgy (formerly Natural Gas Fenosa) appears to have mixed positions on climate change, with mixed positive and negative engagement on various EU policy streams. The company continues to support fossil gas in the energy mix, despite positive top-line messaging on the energy transition.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Naturgy’s top-line communications on climate change are broadly supportive. In a June 2020 press release, Naturgy outlined its support for the more ambitious 1.5°C temperature rise limit of the Paris Agreement. The company also appeared to support the use of carbon pricing as a form of climate change regulation in its 2021 CDP response, but stated this was conditional on it being market-based and not over-regulated. The company appears broadly supportive of the need for policy to respond to climate change. In a 2020 submission to the European Commission on the EU 2030 Climate Target Plan, Naturgy advocated for the implementation of “coordinated EU policies” to enhance climate action.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Naturgy has mixed engagement on key EU policies. The company does not appear to support ambitious energy efficiency policy, supporting a weakening of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive by advocating for the inclusion of fossil gas technologies in March 2022 feedback comments. In its November 2021 legislative consultation response, Naturgy supported the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive revision with major exceptions, including advocating for a market-driven approach on the basis that this would ensure cost-effectiveness. The company also appears to highlight concerns with higher ambition in the energy savings obligations, and advocates for use of low-carbon fuels to achieve energy efficiency savings.

Naturgy advocated for a weakening of the EU Methane Regulation for the energy sector in April 2022 feedback comments, by not supporting strict leak detect and repair measures, and supporting the exclusion of fossil fuel imports. In its February 2021 consultation response on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, Naturgy appeared to support increased ambition in the EU ETS, but advocated against the removal of free allowances, which provide exemptions to companies for reducing emissions. The company also advocated against a one-off rebasing of the emissions cap, which reduces the number of allowances ensuring the scheme’s effectiveness, and a separate ETS system for the road transport and buildings sectors in November 2021. Additionally, in its November 2021 consultation response, Naturgy supported increased ambition within the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, but stressed the importance of decarbonized gaseous fuels to be included in the scope of the directive, despite them being non-renewable.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Naturgy’s position on the energy transition appears to be mixed. The company supported the EU Hydrogen and Gas Decarbonization in its April 2022 feedback comments, but suggested that the need to convert gas infrastructure to hydrogen was not urgent. In its 2020 Sustainability Report, published in March 2021, the company’s president, Francisco Reynés, appeared to support decarbonization of the energy mix, and a greater role for renewable energy. Naturgy also appeared to support a greater role for renewable gases, such as biogas and renewable hydrogen, to reduce emissions from the energy mix in its 2020 Sustainability Report. The company also supported the development of green hydrogen on Twitter in March 2021.

However, in a November 2021 press release, Naturgy suggested that unabated fossil gas has a role in the future energy mix, on the basis of demand for coal to gas transitions and energy system security. In a May 2021 Eurogas newsletter, a Naturgy spokesperson also stated support for the blending of fossil gas with hydrogen, and a continued role of fossil gas in the energy mix. In a November 2021 legislative consultation response, the company did not support the banning of fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings in the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive.

Industry Association Governance: Naturgy discloses a partial list of its industry association memberships, but has not published a full audit disclosure of its alignment to its industry associations on climate policy. Naturgy is a member of Eurogas and has a senior executive on the trade association’s board. The company is also a member of Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales (CEOE). Both groups have mixed engagement with European climate policy, and Eurogas campaigns for the long-term role for fossil gas in the EU energy mix.

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.