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)
Disney Senior Vice President is a board member of CalChamber (updated January 2022)
John Stowell
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Senior executive of Walt Disney is a board member of CalChamber
John A. Stowell
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Disney Senior Vice President is a board member of CalChamber (updated January 2022)
John Stowell
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Senior executive of Walt Disney is a board member of CalChamber
John A. Stowell
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: Walt Disney (Disney) appears to have very limited engagement with climate change policy, with poor transparency regarding its engagement and indirect influence. The company demonstrates positive top-line messaging on climate change. However, it is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce and the California Chamber of Commerce, both of which strategically engage with negative positions on federal and state climate policies.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Disney demonstrates broadly positive, limited top-line communications on climate change. In its February 2021 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the company supported the findings of the IPCC on climate change. In its ‘2030 Sustainability Goals’ white paper released in December 2020, Disney also appeared to support greenhouse gas emissions reductions in line with “the latest science from the IPCC.” Disney seemed to support the Paris Agreement in the same paper, which is consistent with former CEO Bob Iger’s August 2017 protest against US withdrawal from the Agreement.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: InfluenceMap has not found any evidence of Disney engaging on specific climate-related policies. The company does not appear to disclose its climate-related policy positions and lobbying activities on its corporate website. Similarly, Disney did not provide an answer to Question 12.3a in its CDP 2021 disclosure.
Positioning on Energy Transition: In its February 2021 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Disney supports IPCC findings and states that “complete decarbonization of the economy is required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.” InfluenceMap did not find any further evidence of engagement with policy related to the energy mix.
Industry Association Governance: Although Disney discloses its memberships to US industry associations on its corporate website, it does not provide any details on each association’s climate policy positions or of the company’s role in each group. Disney has also not published a review of its industry associations. The company is a member of Business Roundtable, which holds mixed climate policy positions, and the US Chamber of Commerce, whose strategic opposition to climate policy includes recent lobbying against the climate provisions in the Biden administration reconciliation bill. Senior Vice President John Stowell is also a board member of the California Chamber of Commerce, which engages negatively with climate policy and has opposed a range of state climate bills in the 2021 California legislative session.