This is what ‘responsible’ climate lobbying looks like

Scrutiny of corporate lobbying practices and how well they align with the organization’s publicly stated climate policies is intensifying — and it isn't just activists turning up the heat.

Last month, several leading investor groups and financial organizations published a new framework that outlines in detail 14 ways corporations can demonstrate that their lobbying policies align with temperature mitigation goals of the Paris Agreement — and that many large investors will be scrutinizing more closely in the months ahead.

The new?Global Standard on Responsible Climate Lobbying, as it is known, was developed by investment managers AP7, BNP Paribas Asset Management and the Church of England Pensions Board, along with Chronos Sustainability, InfluenceMap and the London School of Economics. At its launch, the framework was supported by investor networks representing more than $130 trillion in assets under management.?

The impetus? More than 65 percent of investors responding to a recent survey by ISS Governance indicated that they believe the companies should — at a minimum — ensure that political lobbying activities support the drive to hold global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Yet, few companies have made such a public commitment, as the framework suggests. One highly visible exception is Salesforce, which?officially made environmental sustainability part of its policy priorities?in March 2021.

Who else? "Aspen Snowmass, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and others like them are ‘all in’ on climate — including aligning their advocacy for public policy with their public rhetoric, their operational targets and the Paris Agreement’s goals to keep warming well below 2 degrees C," Bill Weihl, founder and executive director of Climate Voice, a nonprofit that’s educating corporate workforces on how companies are engaging on climate policy, wrote in response to questions. The new standard, Weihl said, will ensure that companies are hearing a "consistent message" about what’s necessary.

"Many large companies have spoken up in favor of some climate policies, but are silent on most — and continue to belong to large trade associations (like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) that are spending millions to stymie policy progress," he wrote.

Clare Richards, senior engagement management at Church of England Pensions Board, said the new framework was borne out of conversations between investment managers and corporations. "Really why we instigated this was as a means of focusing minds and aligning actions on both the corporate and investor side of things," she said. "Over the past number of years, more investors, ourselves included, have been busy and active engaging with companies on corporate climate lobbying, and very often the question that comes back is, ‘Well, what does good look like?’"

The new roadmap consolidates previous frameworks and seeks to create more cohesive governance suggestions. "We’re not expecting any company to actually be perfect and to be scoring across the board on all of this straight away, but investors do expect that companies are heading in the right direction," Richards said.

For more commentary, you can read the rest of my article here: https://bityl.co/BcVF. I also encourage you to listen to my interview with Richards and Morgan LaManna, director of investor engagements at Ceres, on?Episode 309 of the GreenBiz 350 podcast.