Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Lobbying Overview: OMV appears to engage actively and negatively on climate policy in the EU. The company supports energy sources such as hydrogen, biofuels and sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to transition the energy mix, however, has advocated to prolong the role of fossil gas in the energy mix.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: OMV’s top-line messaging on climate policy is broadly positive, however, the company appears unsupportive of the need for government regulation. In its 2024 annual report, published April 2025, OMV states support for the goals of the Paris Agreement. In an August 2024 blog post, the company appeared to support a net-zero economy by 2050. However, in its 2023 Sustainability Report published in March 2024, OMV appeared to advocate for EU-wide carbon pricing as a way to oppose the national carbon pricing system.
The company signed the Antwerp Declaration in February 2024, which advocated against EU Green Deal policies, calling for an EU Industrial Deal to revise existing climate policy and emphasizing competitiveness. In a February 2025 article, OMV CEO Alfred Stern also appeared not to fully support the EU Green deal, emphasizing negative impacts on investments in the energy sector and EU competitiveness.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: OMV appears to hold negative positions on GHG emissions regulations in the EU from 2023-2025. In April 2025 comments on oil and gas producers’ contributions to the EU’s 2030 storage objective, OMV and subsidiary OMV Petrom both opposed the carbon storage mandate. In a consultation response on the EU 2040 Climate Target in June 2023, the company also appeared to advocate for the national targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation to be limited to GHG emissions not covered by the EU ETS. Similarly, the company advocated for national targets to be replaced by EU-wide sectoral legislation.
Positioning on Energy Transition: OMV communicates top-line support for the energy transition and supports multiple energy sources such as hydrogen, biofuels, and sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) as well as CCS. However, the company appears to provide limited details on whether its support is aligned with the IPCC’s recommendations for the energy transition, and the company also appears to advocate for the continued use of fossil gas.
OMV supported more ambitious policy measures to transition to a low-carbon economy in a January 2025 blog post. However, the company continues to advocate for the continued role of unabated fossil gas, including in a CEO interview in April 2025. Similarly, the company CEO appeared to advocate for the expansion of fossil gas exploration and production in a February 2025 article.
OMV supported the use of renewable hydrogen in hard-to-abate sectors in a corporate webpage, accessed April 2025. In a consultation response in June 2023, OMV supported 'hydrogen ready' infrastructure, without stating the need to fully decarbonize hydrogen and without stating an intended use.
In a blog post in July 2024, OMV also supported the use of CCU to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors, but it is unclear from the evidence whether the uses for captured carbon are aligned with IPCC recommendations. Similarly, the company supported the use of biofuels to compliment electrification in transport but did not specify the type of transport or any timeline for a further transition in a press release in July 2024.
The company broadly supports the use of SAFs to decarbonize aviation, including in a company webpage accessed April 2025, but it is unclear if this was aligned with IPCC guidelines. The company provided a more detailed position on the use of SAFs in a podcast in September 2023, where it supported the increased use of bio-based SAF in aviation in the short-term with clear support for a switch to synthetic and/or zero-emissions technologies in the medium to long-term.
Industry Association Governance: OMV has disclosed a list of its industry association memberships in its 2023 Sustainability Report published in March 2024 and its Industry Association Memberships Update 2021. However, the company's disclosure on its industry associations is limited to top-line climate statements without reference to specific climate policies and these details are in a disclosure that is over one year old. OMV also excluded two actively-engaged industry associations it is a member of via subsidiaries, namely Gas Infrastructure Europe and WindEurope. OMV is a member of FuelsEurope, BusinessEurope and the Australian Energy Producers, which are actively and negatively engaging with climate legislation.
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 Q2 2025.