Scored evidence collected on an entity's engagement with land-use and circular economy policy will now be fully weighted into the final calculations for each entity's metrics. This follows a two year process where InfluenceMap has evolved its methodology to collect evidence on corporate and industry engagement with these key areas of climate-related policy.
We have strengthened the algorithm for discounting the impact older evidence on an organization's top-line metrics. Evidence from within the last two years is weighted the strongest and then gradually weighted out of the scoring calculations as it gets older. All evidence that is 5 years or older is completely removed from the scoring calculations. Users will still be able to view older evidence items that are archived the scoring matrix below, but these will not be impacting the organization's current scores.
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.
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Meta (formerly Facebook) is lobbying positively on climate change policy with somewhat active engagement. The company primarily demonstrates an interest in renewable energy policy, such as green energy tariffs, that support its operational goals in renewable energy procurement.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Meta has positive top-line messaging on climate policy. In its 2021 Sustainability report, released June 2022, Meta stated that global temperature increase must be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. While the company did not publicly endorse the US Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, it published a press release in October 2021 supporting the climate provisions in the US Build Better Back Act. Meta’s 2021 Sustainability report lists support for the EU Green Deal, which follows evidence of the company communicating directly with the office of European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans in July 2020 in support of the deal. Meta also clearly supports the Paris Agreement, as outlined in its 2021 Sustainability Report.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Meta's engagement with climate-related policies in recent years is positive, though limited. As reported by the Wind Energy and Electric Vehicle Magazine in November 2022, Meta co-founded the Asia Clean Energy Coalition at COP27 to strategically improve the policy and regulatory environments for clean energy in Asia. In January 2022, Meta and other technology companies filed a joint amicus brief in support of the EPA's right to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, following West Virginia's case against the EPA. Previously, in 2020, Meta joined a number of organizations calling on Ohio legislators to repeal HB 6 and restore the state’s energy efficiency and renewable portfolio standards. The company does not appear to have engaged on the EU Fit for 55 package in recent years.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Meta demonstrates a positive position on the transition of the energy mix, though with limited engagement. Its 2021 Sustainability report released in June 2022 makes the case for the removal and redirection of fossil fuel subsidies toward public investments. The company has also been somewhat active at the state level in appealing to regulators to push utilities to decarbonize. Most recently, in December 2022, Meta joined several other companies in a comment to regulators in North Carolina advocating to raise the ambition of Duke Energy's carbon plan. Similarly, in May 2021, Bloomberg reported on Meta's pushback against the buildout of new gas plants by Duke. InfluenceMap was unable to locate evidence of engagement with other forms of energy transition policy, such as clean transportation.
Industry Association Governance: Meta does not disclose its memberships in trade associations on its website and has not replied to the CDP survey. It has not published a formal review of its indirect influence through industry associations. Meta is a member of Advanced Energy Economy, which has engaged positively on virtually all forms of climate policy in the US. Conversely, he company serves on the Board of Directors at the US Chamber of Commerce and retains its membership in BusinessEurope and Japan Business Federation, all of which have largely opposed ambitious climate action in their respective jurisdictions. This summary was last updated in Q4 2022.