We have expanded the list of climate policies we assess company engagement with to incorporate land-use related policy, referring to legislative or regulatory measures to enhance and protect ecosystems and land where carbon is being stored. Assessments under this category are currently underweighted in terms of their contribution to the overall company metrics. This weighting will be progressively increased over the next 6 months.
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Open PDF file of Data Source
Climate Lobbying Overview: Norsk Hydro appears to have taken mostly negative positions on climate policy since 2015. The company supports some forms of market-based policy and has welcomed more ambitious climate policy in the EU. However, support is regularly expressed with the caveat that policy must be accompanied by “competitive framework conditions”. Norsk Hydro has also strongly opposed key EU climate policies that would impact its operations.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Norsk Hydro appears to support climate action with the caveat that it must protect economic competitiveness. For example, Norsk Hydro appeared to support reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 in an EU consultation response in 2020, but described its support as “conditional to the safeguarding of European industrial competitiveness”. In its corporate communications on its website in 2021, Norsk Hydro supported “market-based instruments, such as emissions trading” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The company’s annual reports from 2018 to 2020 have also consistently stated support for the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Norsk Hydro takes a mixed approach to climate-related regulations, supporting the EU’s new 55% emission reduction target for 2030 in a 2021 consultation on the condition that new carbon leakage measures are introduced. Its public support for market-based instruments to reduce emissions appears to contrast with its attempts to weaken the EU ETS emissions reduction framework, for example in a document annexed to a 2021 consultation response it advocated for more carbon leakage protection to avoid triggering the cross sectoral correction factor, and argued that surplus free allowances should be saved and re-introduced into the market to aid economic recovery. Norsk Hydro has also consistently argued against a phasing out of carbon leakage protections measures in the EU ETS, including in a number of media articles in 2021. In tandem, the company opposed the EU CBAM as a carbon leakage protection measure for aluminium, and advocated for the continuation of existing carbon leakage protection if a CBAM is introduced in a 2020 consultation response. Following the Commission’s July 2021 CBAM proposal, Norsk Hydro welcomed the policy on Twitter on the basis that existing carbon leakage protections are maintained.
Norsk Hydro appears to support energy efficiency legislation, describing policies addressing the energy performance of buildings and the energy savings obligation as ‘very important’ in a 2021 EU consultation response. In a 2021 consultation response the company appeared to support strengthened CO2 standards for cars and vans. Norsk Hydro also supported market-based policy such as contracts for difference to deliver offshore renewable energy in a 2020 EU consultation response. However, in a 2020 consultation response on ocean energy it did not support the EU Commission’s assessment of the potential for ocean energy to expand renewable energy supply on the basis that it may result in a cost increase for power consumers that might impact competitiveness.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Norsk Hydro takes a largely oppositional stance on transitioning the energy mix. Norsk Hydro appeared not to support increased ambition of the EU Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) in a 2020 consultation, not supporting revisions to take into account greenhouse gas emissions or promote energy efficiency, and advocating that the ETD should not tax emissions that are subject to a carbon price within the EU ETS. In a 2020 consultation, the company also opposed the prospect of higher taxation rates to align the ETD with EU climate ambitions. In a 2021 EU consultation response, the company did express top-line support for transport policies as a route to transition the economy.
Industry Association Governance: Norsk Hydro discloses a list of memberships of trade associations on its corporate website, but does not detail the climate policy positions of the groups. The company retains memberships to BusinessEurope, Eurometeaux and the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC), which are lobbying negatively on climate policy.