Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Yara International (Yara) actively engages on EU climate policy and appears to be partially aligned with science-based policy in its advocacy. While it supported ambitious climate policy in its top-line messaging and in relation to the role of hydrogen in the energy transition in 2022-24, the company appeared to take unsupportive positions on the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Yara International (Yara) took mostly positive positions in its top-line messaging on climate policy in 2022-24. In October 2023, the company signed an open letter to the Parties to the UNFCCC ahead of COP28 that advocated for urgent climate action through the transformation of global food systems. CEO Svein Tore Holsether stated his support for the Paris Agreement in a January 2023 interview with the Financial Times and supported action to limit global warming to 1.5°C in a World Economic Forum joint letter in October 2023. However, Yara’s CEO signed the Antwerp Declaration in February 2024, which advocated for an EU Industrial Deal that did not appear to support ambitious and stringent climate regulation.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Yara International (Yara) appeared to support climate-related regulations with some exceptions. The company strongly supported the introduction of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), for example in a January 2024 position paper on the European Green Deal and a November 2022 position paper on the CBAM trilogues, although it consistently advocated for the inclusion of export rebates, a position which is misaligned with the EU Commission. Yara supported certain measures to increase the stringency of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) in its response to the 2040 Climate Target public consultation in June 2023. However, the company stated in a January 2022 position paper on the EU Fit for 55 Package that an increase of the carbon price alongside a phase out of free allowances posed significant competitiveness risks.
Yara appears to support legislation to make agricultural production more resource efficient, supporting the sustainable intensification of agriculture in a January 2022 position paper. Yara appeared to promote practices for protecting and enhancing carbon sinks and reservoirs such as agroforestry and soil carbon sequestration in a June 2023 public consultation.
Yara appears to have advocated to weaken the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) reform, for example, in a March 2023 open letter to EU policymakers, the company advocated for the inclusion of low-carbon hydrogen in RED renewable hydrogen targets and sub-targets, a position which is misaligned with the EU Commission’s ambition. However, Yara supported investments in green hydrogen to meet hydrogen sub-targets in the RED in a January 2024 position paper. CEO Svein Tore Holsether signed an Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders open letter in October 2023, which supported governments improving energy efficiency through policies and targets.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Yara International’s (Yara) position on the energy transition is mostly positive, with its engagement being mostly focused on hydrogen and ammonia. The company seems to support an increase of renewable energy in general, in a 2023 interview with Reuters Yara’s CEO advocated for increased government support to ramp up renewable energy production.
Yara consistently advocates for the development of hydrogen and ammonia produced from renewables or from fossil fuels with clear conditions around the use of carbon capture and storage to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors, including in a January 2024 position paper and an opinion editorial in Euractiv in November 2023. In a December 2023 article, Yara’s CEO supported the use of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier, which is in line with IPCC guidance on the role for ammonia in the energy transition.
However, Yara’s position in relation to the EU Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) does not appear to be clearly aligned with the EU Commission’s ambition. In a June 2023 public consultation response the company supported the use of hydrogen in hard-to-abate sectors without clarifying its production method, and supported the inclusion of carbon capture and storage in the NZIA without providing the necessary details to demonstrate the alignment of this position with the EU Commission.
Industry Association Governance: Yara International (Yara) is a member of several industry associations that are actively engaged on climate policy, including the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and Hydrogen Europe, both of which take a mix of supportive and unsupportive positions on European climate policy. Yara has not published a review of its industry association memberships and climate policy engagement.
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 2024.