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.
Climate Lobbying Overview: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) appears to have very low engagement with climate change policy. InfluenceMap found limited evidence and disclosure of the company's recent climate policy positions and engagement.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: In its 2019 Sustainability Report, TSMC suggests that the Paris Agreement goals informs its own operations, but it does not clearly take a position on the climate deal. In recent years, TSMC does not appear to have communicated its position on other top-line climate policies, including long-term climate targets.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: InfluenceMap found limited evidence of TSMC’s engagement with specific climate policies. TSMC stated in its 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility Report that it has attended over 50 government meetings regarding climate-related regulations and policies, but did not disclose any further details on the specific policies nor the outcomes sought. In its 2020 CDP climate change response, TSMC disclosed that it is engaging on clean energy policy in Taiwan, although the details provided suggest that this was mostly regarding receipt of carbon credits from buying green power.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company appears to have limited, mostly positive engagement regarding the energy transition. In its Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2020 TSMC disclosed that it is involved in policy discussions and is advocating for regulatory reform to increase renewable energy production in Taiwan. TSMC has also advocated to the Taiwanese government in favor of expanding the development of offshore wind power.
Industry Association Governance: TSMC disclosed a list of its industry association memberships in its 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility report. However, this list does not separate those likely to have a position on climate change or information about the groups' positions on climate change legislation. In its 2020 CDP climate change response, TSMC disclosed two of its indirect influences, and provided some detail on the associations’ alignment with TSMC’s own position on climate change. InfluenceMap could find no evidence of memberships to climate-active trade associations in our databases. TSMC has not published a complete review of its alignment with its industry associations.