Climate Lobbying Overview: Alphabet (referred hereafter as Google) is engaging with climate change policy with largely positive positions. The company demonstrates a clear interest in renewable energy policy and the energy transition, primarily in the US and EU. It supported the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 after it was passed, despite the negative advocacy of several industry associations of which Google remains a member.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Google demonstrates highly positive top-line messaging on climate change. Through various joint letters in 2021-22, the company supported net zero ambition in the US, and in an August 2022 submission to Australia’s Senate Committee on Environment and Communications, it supported the Australia government’s proposed net zero target. In a policy paper released April 2022, “A Policy Roadmap for 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy,” Google advocated for increased ambition across a wide range of climate policy globally. Previously, in an October 2021 press release, Google communicated support for "comprehensive climate and clean energy policy," referring broadly to the climate provisions in the US Build Back Better Act. In January 2021, Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted support for the reentry of the U.S. in the Paris Agreement.

Engagement with Climate-Related Policies: Google engages positively on climate policy globally. appealing to regulators to push utilities to decarbonize. In August 2022, in Australia, the company submitted a comment in August 2022 supporting the government’s proposed legislation to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050 with an interim target of at least 43% by 2030. In January 2022, Google filed a joint amicus brief in support of the US EPA's right to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, following West Virginia's case against the EPA. Previously, in March 2021, Google signed another joint letter calling on President Biden to mandate that federal facilities are powered by carbon-free electricity at all hours of the day. The company does not appear to have engaged recently with the EU’s Fit for 55 package or related efforts to increase the ambition of the policies in the plan.

Positioning on Energy Transition: In its April 2022 climate policy position paper, Google endorses a number of climate measures globally to decarbonize the electric power sector, including Clean Electricity Standards and tax incentives for clean energy. It also advocates for policy to phase out coal and fossil gas in clear alignment with IPCC guidance, supporting government intervention to ensure the complete phase out of coal and opposing investments that risk locking in unabated fossil gas in the energy mix, with strict carbon capture requirements for all remaining fossil gas.

These positions align with Google’s advocacy in the US. In December 2022, Google joined several other companies in appealing to regulators in North Carolina advocating to raise the ambition of Duke Energy's carbon plan; similarly, in May 2021, Bloomberg reported on Google's pushback against the buildout of new gas plants by Duke Energy. In July 2021, Google signed a joint letter urging Congress to adopt a federal clean electricity standard. Google’s Q4 2021 Federal Lobbying Disclosure also shows engagement on climate legislation including the Clean Electricity Performance Program in the Build Back Better Act. In an August 2022 blog, Google celebrated the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and its climate provisions.

Industry Association Governance: Google discloses what appears to be a complete list of its U.S. trade association memberships on its corporate website, without disclosing groups outside the U.S., and without providing details of these organizations’ climate policy positions or its attempts to influence those positions. It has not published a formal review of its indirect influence through industry associations.

Google is a member of Advanced Energy Economy, which has engaged positively on virtually all forms of climate policy in the U.S. Conversely, Google serves on the influential corporate advisory board of BusinessEurope and retains its membership with the US Chamber of Commerce and Japan Business Federation, all of which have consistently opposed ambitious climate action in their respective jurisdictions. It is also a member of Business Roundtable, which demonstrates mixed positions on US climate policy. The US Chamber and Business Roundtable both advocated in opposition to the Build Back Better and Inflation Reduction Act in the US. This summary was last updated in Q4 2022.