A new batch of industry associations has been uploaded onto the InfluenceMap system and the relationship scores recalculated accordingly.
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.
Climate Lobbying Overview: The Corporate Leaders Group (CLG) appears to be actively engaging with EU and UK climate change policy with strongly supportive positions. The organization has also been strongly supportive of the energy transition, including the phase out of fossil fuels.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: The Corporate Leaders Group’s has communicated strong support for climate policy ambition. In a 2020 letter to the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the CLG advocated support for the EU Climate Law, which sets a target of climate neutrality by 2050 in the EU. The organization also supported the UK’s 2050 net zero target in its 2021 briefing paper on Brexit and UK climate leadership. Alongside this, on Twitter in 2020, the association is supportive of the need for climate change regulation, advocating for a “proactive, well designed, climate focused policy framework.” The CLG has also been supportive of strong ambition through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, in a 2021 briefing paper the association supported the strong ambition shown by the UK.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: The Corporate Leaders Group’s engagement with climate-related regulations in the EU and UK appears to be strongly positive. The CLG supported the EU’s 2030 55% GHG emissions reduction target in a 2020 EU consultation response and, in a 2021 briefing paper, the association advocated in favour of the UK’s 2030 68% GHG emissions reduction target. The organization has also advocated for the implementation of a 50% GHG emissions reduction target in the United States in an open letter to US President Biden in 2021.
CLG has advocated in favour of energy efficiency legislation in both the EU and UK. In a 2020 briefing paper, the organization supported the EU’s Renovation Wave initiative, advocating for it to be “one of the flagship initiatives for the economic recovery.” The association’s director, Eliot Whittington, also supported the UK’s Green Homes Grant in a press release in 2020, highlighting the importance of improving energy efficiency standards in buildings.
The CLG has also supports reforms to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to increase its effectiveness and the predictability of a carbon price. The organization has supported linking the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to a new UK ETS following Brexit, signing joint letters to EU and UK policymakers in 2021, although it has voiced some concerns around carbon leakage from a high carbon price in the UK. CLG does not appear to have been supportive of a UK carbon border adjustment, raising concerns of increasing costs and damaging international relationships in a 2021 briefing paper.
Positioning on Energy Transition: The Corporate Leaders Group appears to strongly advocate for the transition of the energy mix, particularly supporting the phase out of fossil fuels and decarbonization of the transportation and industrial sectors. In 2019, the organization’s director Eliot Whittington, in Forbes, supported an end of fossil fuel project financing. In a 2020 briefing paper, the CLG supported the phase out of internal combustion engines (ICE) in heavy vehicles in the UK by 2035, whilst also supporting the electrification of the transport sector. The CLG also advocates in favour of the decarbonization of heavy industry, stating in 2021 to Politico, that the EU should “channel more investments in clean tech and industries such as green steel and cement.”