Climate Lobbying Overview: Imperial Oil appears to engage negatively on climate change. The company has limited transparent engagement with specific climate regulations, however, it actively promotes a sustained role for oil and gas in the energy mix. Imperial Oil is on the board of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), which advocates in favor of oil and gas.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Imperial Oil’s public positions on climate policy show mixed positions. The company’s Advancing Climate Solutions Report from July 2022 has stated support for the Paris Agreement and Canada’s net-zero target by 2050. While Imperial Oil has stated support for climate policy, it places major exceptions to this support. For instance, in the company’s registration at the Alberta Lobbyist Registry in July 2022, it stated that the long-term objective of climate policy should be to reduce the “serious” risks of climate change policy while ensuring energy access to all– suggesting that the company prefers less ambitious policies.

Engagement with Climate-related Regulations: Imperial Oil appears to be actively engaged on climate-related regulations, with limited transparency on its positions. The company’s July 2022 Advancing Climate Solutions Report supported a border carbon adjustment mechanism in Canada. Evidence from lobbying registries in Canada shows that Imperial Oil is directly engaged with policymakers on carbon tax in British Columbia and Alberta, and Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act at the federal level. However, the specific details and positions on these engagements are not disclosed. Imperial Oil has not responded to the CDP Climate Change Information Request since 2018.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Imperial Oil appears to oppose the transition to a clean energy mix. Evidence from the Canadian lobbyist registries show that the company supports a long-term role for oil and gas. Imperial Oil has advocated for policy support for the oil and gas sector to the federal government and to the governments of British Columbia and Alberta in 2022. Similar lobbying activities were registered in the Ontario Office of the Integrity Commissioner in September 2021, where the company advocated for various forms of support for the oil and gas industry.

Furthermore, the company’s communications to investors appear to support the need for additional oil and gas investments. For instance, in an investor presentation from March 2022, Imperial Oil stated that further investments in oil and gas were “required in any scenario”. During this presentation, the company’s CEO Brad Corson also supported “significant future investment” in oil and gas, particularly in Canada.

There is some evidence to show that Imperial Oil advocates for investments in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), however, this appears to be in conjunction with the Canadian oil sands operations. In the Advancing Climate Solutions Report, published in July 2022, the company supported CCS as a “critical technology” to achieve the net-zero goal in the oil sands.

Industry Association Governance: Imperial Oil has very limited disclosure on its indirect lobbying activities via industry associations. In its 2019-2020 Sustainability Report, published in March 2021, the company disclosed the company’s membership in associations where annual fees exceeded $25K. This includes membership in influential associations such as the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers CAPP), the Canadian Fuels Association, and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. As of August 2022, the company has not provided an updated disclosure. InfluenceMap’s analysis shows that CAPP, where Imperial Oil CEO Brad Corson is a board member, has lobbied against ambitious climate change policy while supporting the continued role for oil and gas in the Canadian 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.