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: Optus Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary company to Singtel. Singtel for the most part appears to be positively engaged with climate change although its lobbying activities on the matter appear to be very limited.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: In its 2018 sustainability report, Singtel stated it supported efforts to keep global warming below a 2°C increase. However, it appears to have increased its ambition in recent years, stating on its website as of September 2021 that it is committed to keeping global temperature increase within 1.5°C and net zero emissions by 2050. Additionally, Singtel's subsidiary Optus clearly states it supports the Paris Agreement and has stated support for GHG emissions reductions in line with a 1.5°C target in its 2021 Sustainability Report.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Singtel (Optus) appears to have a very limited engagement with climate-related regulations. However, in its 2019 CDP response, it did state how Singtel supported the Carbon Pricing Bill as the Singapore Government’s firm commitment to delivering its pledge for the Paris Agreement.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Singtel does not appear to be actively engaging with policy surrounding the future energy-mix. However, in August 2020, Singtel's subsidiary Optus signed a letter to the Australian Prime Minister calling for investment in clean energy to help Australia recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Industry Association Governance: In its recent Sustainability reports, neither Singtel nor its subsidiary Optus has disclosed its membership of industry associations actively engaging with climate policy, nor do they disclose the climate and energy positions of its associations, or if it is aligned or misaligned with the trade association in question. Singtel does disclose a list of industry associations and external organizations it is a member of in its CDP response, including how individuals hold key positions in the executive in some. However, this appears to be selective and both Optus’s published list of memberships industry associations and Singtel’s CDP responses failed to disclose the membership to the Business Council of Australia, a trade association that has traditionally engaged in obstructive lobbying on climate policy.