Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Imperial Oil demonstrates active policy engagement that is oppositional to science-aligned climate policy. The company has limited top-line positioning on climate change. The company undertakes negative advocacy on climate regulations and advocates for oil and gas expansion in Canada.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Imperial Oil has limited top-line positions on climate action. In June 2024, the company removed most of its climate-related disclosures from the website, citing ‘uncertainty’ from Canada’s Competition Act Amendments. As a result, InfluenceMap could not find any recent evidence of the company’s position on a 2050 net-zero target and the goals of the Paris Agreement. Imperial Oil does not fully support the need for climate action and regulation consistent with IPCC recommendations. For instance, in a July 2025 Alberta Lobbyist Registry filing, the company stated that the long-term objective of climate policy should be to reduce the “risk of serious impacts to humanity and ecosystems.”
Engagement with Climate-Related Policies: Imperial Oil engages negatively on climate regulations in Canada. In June 2024, Imperial Oil's previous CEO Brad Corson’s testimony to a Canadian parliamentary committee opposed the proposed Oil & Gas Emission Cap, stating that the policy was unnecessary. This position was reiterated in an April 2025 joint industry letter to Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney. In this letter, the company also called for the repeal of Canada’s emissions trading policy, the Output-Based Pricing System. According to July 2025 lobbyist filings at the federal level and in Alberta, Imperial Oil is directly engaged on a range of emissions reduction policies such as Clean Electricity Regulations, Renewable Fuel Standards, and methane reduction policies.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Imperial Oil appears opposed to an energy transition and advocates for a long-term role for oil in the energy mix. In the joint industry letters to policymakers in March 2025 and April 2025 to Canada’s Prime Minister, the company advocated for policy measures to support increased oil and gas production in Canada. In June 2024, previous CEO Brad Corson's testimony to a Canadian parliamentary committee promoted a similar position. The company also appeared unsupportive of Canada’s 2035 zero-emission vehicle mandate in comments submitted to the federal government in March 2023.
Imperial Oil advocates for investments in carbon capture storage and utilization (CCUS), yet seemingly for CCUS use in conjunction with the oil sector operations. In a June 2024 brief submitted to the Canadian government, the company advocated for incentives and funding to develop CCUS in the oil and gas sector.
Industry Association Governance: Imperial Oil has not disclosed a list of industry association memberships. The company is a member of multiple industry associations engaged on climate-related policy, including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Pathways Alliance, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, and the Business Council of Canada. InfluenceMap analysis shows that CAPP, where Imperial Oil CEO is a board member, has advocated against climate regulations while promoting oil and gas expansion. The company has not published a formal review of indirect engagement through industry associations as of July 2025.
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 2025.