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.
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Virgin Australia is an associate member of CME (Last updated November 2022)
not specified
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InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Virgin Australia is an associate member of CME (Last updated November 2022)
not specified
--no extract--
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:Virgin Australia appears to have a mixed and limited engagement with climate change policy in 2019-21. While it supports global, industry-wide greenhouse gas emission targets it appears to be unsupportive towards the introduction of domestic emission standards.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Virgin Australia has not directly disclosed its positions on specific climate policies and regulations through its website and neither does not appear to acknowledge the science of climate change apart from accepting that its emissions are an environmental issue. However, Virgin Australia appears to support the industry-wide emission target set out in the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme (CORSIA) of carbon-neutral growth from 2020 and the IATA target of halving emissions by 2050, but does not seem to be consistent with the IPCC’s need for drastic action to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celcius.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations:In a response to the consultation on the operation of the Emissions Reduction Fund Safeguard Mechanism (ERF) in April 2018, the company makes numerous recommendations to its role in Australia's aviation sector. It cited its ongoing participation in the CORSIA scheme and a second GHG emission standard may have ‘direct implications for the groups' competitiveness internationally’. To reduce the financial burden of the ERF, it advocated that international carbon credits should be used without placing quantitative limits, which could potentially weaken the domestic emissions reductions required in Australia. Virgin Australia responded to the Safeguard Mechanism consultation on draft amendments in September 2018 and voices its opposition, stating it does not align with its recommendations included in the response to the first consultation and appears to argue that aviation should receive preferential treatment. Virgin Australia does not appear to be broadly engaging with issues around the transition of the energy mix.
Industry Association Governance: InfluenceMap could not find a disclosure from Virgin Australia on its trade associations or third-party memberships nor an audit disclosure of its alignment with its trade associations on climate policy. Nevertheless, Virgin Australia is a member of various trade associations, including the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and the International Air Transport Association while also being associate members of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME). BCA, CME, and IATA appear to lobby against meaningful and Paris-aligned climate policy in Australia since 2015. Virgin Australia is also a member of the Carbon Market Institute (CMI) that appear to lobby more positively on climate change.