Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Mazda has mostly negative engagement with automotive climate policy in 2022-24. While Mazda expresses positive-line messaging on long-term climate neutrality targets, it has actively advocated against higher CO2 standards and ICE phase-out dates in Australia and the US . Mazda retains memberships to a number of industry associations that have engaged negatively with key climate policies globally.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Mazda has generally positive top-line messaging on climate change. The automaker expressed support for the EU’s carbon neutrality target of 2050, including in a joint letter to EU policymakers in May 2022. InfluenceMap could not find any recent evidence of Mazda’s position on the Paris Agreement.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Mazda has strategic, negative engagement on GHG emissions standards for vehicles in multiple regions. In a May 2023 Australian consultation response, Mazda appeared to support an Australian CO2 standard for light-duty vehicles with major exceptions, including advocating for multiplier, off-cycle, and AC credits which may weaken the stringency of the policy. A February 2024 Car Expert article reported that Mazda pushed for the Australian Government to delay and weaken Australia’s proposed he New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), criticizing the timeframe as “too ambitious”. In May 2022, Mazda signed onto a joint letter to EU policymakers opposing a zero-emissions CO2 target for cars and vans in the EU.
In July 2023 comments on Proposed Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards in North America, Mazda advocated to lower the stringency of EPA’s proposed GHG emission standards for LDVs and MDVs to standards less stringent than Alternative 3. In an interview with Automotive News in January 2022, a Mazda spokesperson appeared to not support more stringent US GHG emission standards for light duty vehicles.
Mazda disclosed in its 2023 CDP climate change disclosure that the company advocates for renewable energy policies in the Chugoku region of Japan, where the majority of Mazda's manufacturing takes place.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Mazda has largely opposed regulations to rapidly electrify road transport, instead promoting a long-term role for internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles. In the US, Mazda appeared to not support the Advanced Clean Car II regulations in California, in a testimony at the California Air Resources Board, stating that the regulations to increase ZEV sales are “extremely challenging” . Furthermore, a July 2023 Mazda comment on Proposed Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards in the US , advocated for an extended role of PHEVs, saying that the exceptional stringency of the proposed rule is not realistic and PHEVs should be included in the targets. Mazda strongly opposed an effective phase-out of ICE-powered vehicles in the EU by 2035 in a May 2022 joint letter to policymakers. More positively, Mazda signed a joint letter to policymakers supporting the 45W tax credit for clean vehicles in the US in December 2022. 2022.
Regarding electrification, a January 2024 Bloomberg article reported that the Mazda CEO , Masahiro Moro, advocated for a longer-term role for internal combustion engines (ICE).Other evidence from The Street reported that in an interview, the Mazda CEO emphasized issues with the electrification of light-duty vehicles and stressed the difficulties in transitioning away from ICE vehicles.
Industry Association Governance: Mazda discloses limited information related to its trade association memberships in its annual sustainability report as well as its CDP climate change disclosure. However, this disclosure does not describe Mazda’s role in the associations, their climate policy positions, Mazda’s alignment with the associations, or procedures for addressing misalignment. Mazda has not published an industry association review. Mazda CEO, Masahiro Moro, is an executive director of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), which has lobbied negatively on automotive climate regulations in Japan. Mazda is also a member of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), which have mixed and negative engagement on climate policy in the US and Australia respectively.
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 2024.