Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Lobbying Overview: HBIS Group appears to have limited engagement with climate and energy policies. The company has stated top-line support for China’s 2030 carbon peak and 2060 carbon neutrality targets. However, its engagement with the transition of the energy mix appears to be largely misaligned with IPCC guidance on delivering the global temperature target of limiting global warming to 1.5C, appearing to not support a full transition away from fossil fuels. For example, the company supported transition from coal to hydrogen to decarbonize the steel sector, but at the same time advocated to produce hydrogen from coal.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: HBIS Group appears to have limited but positive top-line communications on climate policy. In a June 2021 press release, the company’s chairman, Yu Yong, appeared to acknowledge the science of climate change. In a March 2021 press release, HBIS supported China’s 2030 carbon peak target and 2060 carbon neutrality target. However, the company has not explicitly supported the Paris Agreement, or emissions reduction pathways in line with IPCC science.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: HBIS Group appears to have limited transparency on its engagement with specific climate-related policies. In a May 2021 press release, Chairman Yu Yong expressed concern over the effect of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism(CBAM) on the competitiveness of China’s steel industry, without a clear position on whether the company supports EU CBAM for its impact on global emissions reduction. InfluenceMap has not found evidence of HBIS’s engagement on other climate-related policies.
Positioning on Energy Transition: HBIS Group has communicated a negative position on the energy transition away from fossil fuels. IIn a September 2022 press release, the company suggested that the transition from coal to hydrogen is key to reduce emissions in steelmaking, however, without communicating the need to decarbonize hydrogen production. In an interview reported by Hebei TV on December 2022, HBIS supported using hydrogen produced from coal in steelmaking, without placing clear conditions on the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS). In a July 2022 press release, Chairman Yu Yong supported an increased role for natural gas in the energy mix, without placing conditions on the deployment of CCS and methane abatement measures.
Industry Association Governance: As of January 2023, HBIS Group has disclosed its membership of trade associations, however, with no further details of the company's role within each organization's governing bodies nor influence over their climate change policy positions.
Additional Note: HBIS is a listed company with more than 50% of its shares owned by the government of China. State-owned enterprises likely retain channels of direct engagement with government officials that InfluenceMap is unable to assess, and therefore are not represented in HBIS's engagement intensity metric.
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.