Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) appears to be highly engaged with EU climate policies, with predominantly negative positions. The association's top-line climate communications and position on carbon pricing measures appears to be positive, however its position on other forms of climate regulation are mostly negative while it advocates for a continued role for fossil gas in a future energy-mix.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: International Association of Oil and Gas Producers' (IOGP) top-line messaging on climate policy is broadly positive. IOGP appears to have repeatedly supported the EU’s target of climate neutrality by 2050, for example, on its corporate website, accessed in August 2023. Furthermore, as of July 2021, IOGP maintains support for the Paris Agreement on its website. IOGP appears to support carbon pricing as a form of climate change regulation, most recently advocating for a carbon price on agricultural emissions as part of the EU 2040 Climate Target plan in a June 2023 consultation response. The association's position on the need for other forms of regulation remains unclear.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: IOGP’s engagement with climate-related regulations appears to be predominantly negative. In a September 2023 letter to EU policymakers, IOGP advocated to weaken significant elements of the EU Methane Regulation for the energy sector, and also advocated against the inclusion of imported fossil fuels. Also, IOGP advocated for the exclusion of GHG emissions from the EU Industrial Emissions Directive reform in its October 2022 position paper.
The industry association also advocated to weaken the EU Renewable Energy Directive's Delegated Act on Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs), by advocating to delay and weaken criteria for renewable hydrogen production in a July 2022 joint statement. IOGP also advocated to weaken the EU Energy Efficiency Directive in its November 2021 public comments, by calling for the inclusion of energy savings from fossil fuels.
Positioning on Energy Transition: IOGP does not appear to fully support the transition of the energy mix, and continues to advocate for new oil and gas exploration and infrastructure in Europe and globally. For example, documents attained through an FOI request show that IOGP directly promoted the continued role of fossil gas in a December 2022 meeting with the EU Commission, it advocated for 'favourable regulatory frameworks' to incentivize gas supply, adding that the abundance of gas reaffirms its role in the energy transition and will underpin the development of the 'hydrogen economy in Europe'.
On its corporate website, accessed in August 2023, IOGP maintains support for a long-term role for fossil gas in the energy mix, stating the need for domestically produced fossil gas to “achieve energy independence”. Previously, in a February 2022 press release, the association advocated to weaken the EU Commission's proposal for the sustainable finance taxonomy by the inclusion of fossil gas, and advocated for a further weakening of the technical criteria to allow for more fossil gas to be included.
Outside of Europe, IOGP Managing Director, François-Régis Mouton, advocated for US policymakers to not take action to limit new LNG projects and called for greater US exports of LNG to Europe in a January 2024 press release. Meanwhile, in a March 2023 industry association joint letter to Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, the association advocated for new fossil gas and LNG infrastructure investments ahead of a May 2023 G7 meeting.