Climate Lobbying Overview: OMV appears to have broadly negative engagement with climate policy, including key EU legislation such as the 2030 GHG emissions reduction target and the EU Emissions Trading System. The company has also consistently advocated for a long-term role for fossil gas in the energy mix.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: OMV’s top-line messaging on climate policy appears to be mixed. In its 2021 sustainability report, published in April 2022, OMV expressed support for the Paris Agreement, The company also appeared to support reaching net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 on its corporate website, accessed in August 2022, and furthermore supported GHG emissions reductions in line with the target of 1.5°C of warming in its 2021 Capital Markets Day presentation. However, OMV appeared to hold reservations about climate policy in its 2021 Sustainability Report, stating that “climate policies present major challenges for the oil and gas industry”. In a 2020 consultation responses in New Zealand, OMV also stressed concerns around energy poverty in responding to climate change. It stated that it is important that climate policies “do not heighten energy insecurity, deliver unacceptably expensive energy prices or unintentionally increase emissions” while also stating support for a market-based response to climate change.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: OMV has shown limited transparent engagement with climate-related regulations in 2022, however it appears unsupportive of ambitious climate-related regulations in the EU and New Zealand. In 2021, OMV disclosed to CDP that it supports the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) while emphasizing that the policy must include carbon leakage protections. Within the same 2021 CDP response, OMV also appeared to advocate for the inclusion of low carbon fuels in the Renewable Energy Directive, which would expand the remit of the policy and divert resources away from the policy’s original mandate.

In a 2020 consultation response, OMV advocated for the New Zealand Emissions Trading System (NZ ETS) to reduce its initial transitional price from $35 to $25 per tonne, increase its Cost Containment Reserve protection against “unacceptably high prices”, and include a lower price floor, measures that would likely weaken the overall policy. OMV’s position on other pieces of climate-related regulations are unclear.

Positioning on Energy Transition: OMV appears to consistently promote the role of fossil gas in the future energy mix. On its corporate website, accessed in August 2022, OMV supported reducing gas venting and flaring, but in the same statement promotes fossil gas is the “cleanest fossil fuel”. In October 2021, OMV CEO Alfred Stern also stated in a tweet that fossil gas would be required to back-up renewables in the future energy mix, while arguing that “gas is actually a key pillar of the energy transition”.

Furthermore, in a 2020 New Zealand consultation response, OMV advocated in favor of the long-term role of gas in New Zealand’s energy mix. While in the EU, the company appeared to support the Gas Decarbonization Package in its March 2021 response to the EU's roadmap; however, it also appeared to support the inclusion of hydrogen produced from fossil gas and gas infrastructure.

Concerning transport in the EU, OMV has disclosed via CDP in 2021 that it also supports policy to encourage the use of fossil gas for heavy transport alongside renewable fuels and hydrogen. OMV’s 2021 CDP response advocated for the EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy to be ‘technology neutral’, stating that it believes all forms of energy will be needed to achieve climate goals. However, on its ‘Hydrogen’ webpage, accessed in August 2022, the company appeared to support the role of green hydrogen in the transport industry.

Industry Association Governance: In May 2021, OMV published a review of 16 of its industry association memberships on its website, disclosing OMV’s roles within, and engagement with, each association alongside their climate positions. Within this review, OMV stated it is “fully aligned” with all 13 associations regarding their climate-related engagement. OMV is a member of FuelsEurope, BusinessEurope and the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA), which are actively and negatively lobbying climate legislation. The review however did not include Gas Infrastructure Europe, an association which also traditionally lobbies negatively on climate policy, despite a subsidiary of OMV being listed as a member on the website.

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 2022.

A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.