New InfluenceMap analysis shows a profound shift in corporate attitudes toward climate policy from businesses in the European Union (1) between the presentation of the EU Green Deal (at the start of the 2019 legislative cycle) and the beginning of the 2024 Parliament. The findings challenge narratives promoted by certain industry associations since before the 2024 European Parliament elections which portray European industrial competitiveness as conflicting with ambitious EU climate policy.
Analysis of the climate policy advocacy of nearly 200 of the largest European companies and 80 industry associations tracked by the Lobbymap platform finds that the proportion of companies that fully align their policy advocacy with pathways to limit warming to 1.5ºC is now 23%, compared to only 3% at the start of the last European Parliament in 2019. This means significantly more companies are pushing—in their submissions to government and in their public-facing communications—for policies that are in line with the scientific recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) to keep warming below 1.5ºC.
The proportion of companies that show advocacy that is fully or partially aligned with pathways to limit warming to 1.5ºC has increased from 27% to 52% over the same period. The proportion of companies engaging on climate policy with positions that are misaligned with 1.5ºC has dropped significantly from 34% to 13%.
The use of detailed, positive advocacy on climate policy by an increasingly substantial portion of the corporate sector likely reflects the long-term nature of corporate investment cycles that are not easily swayed by shorter-term political developments. These results are supported by recent polling of business leaders, which found that 97% of executives support transitioning from fossil fuels to a renewable- based electricity system.
Although European industry associations have also showed steady improvements in their positioning on climate-related policy between 2019 and 2025—with aligned entities increasing from 2% to 12%—the rate of change does not appear to match the more profound shift in attitude among the European companies assessed, despite industry associations’ primary role as company representatives. These findings raise ongoing concerns around the “lowest common denominator” effect, where industry associations only represent the positions of the small proportion of their members that advocate most strongly and negatively on regulatory proposals to tackle climate change.
The research finds that industry associations representing heavy industry and transport retain a particularly significant level of resistance to science-aligned climate policy in the region. This trend is also present in prominent cross-sector industry associations at the EU level, such as BusinessEurope, and in those representing member states—including the French Business Federation (MEDEF), the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), the Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria), and the Federation of German Industries (BDI). This is despite these national level groups nominally representing the broad base of sectors and businesses that InfluenceMap’s analysis suggests take more supportive stances.
Additionally, InfluenceMap also looked at the specific narratives promoted by industry associations when advocating on climate policy in the 2024–29 legislative cycle. Analysis of the 2024 pre-election ‘manifestos’ of a group of the most engaged industry associations revealed that these groups have repeatedly leveraged concerns around companies’ international competitiveness to push back against climate policy. Alongside this, they have also advocated for the incorporation of vague policy language, and for incentive-based ‘carrot’ approaches over regulatory ‘sticks’ to drive change. These arguments are inconsistent with, and sometimes actively contradictory to, the advice of the IPCC and the 2024 Draghi Report.
InfluenceMap found that these arguments have also been used by industry associations when negatively engaging on specific climate policies in the previous policy cycle (between 2019–24) as the EU Commission implemented its Green Deal. Policies particularly targeted include the EU’s carbon pricing policies—the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the reform of the Emissions Trading System (ETS)—as well as policies tackling emissions from transportation, energy, and the food system.
Despite this negative advocacy, there is growing evidence from the LobbyMap database that business groups that do support science-aligned climate policy are challenging narratives that pit Europe’s international competitiveness against climate action. Key proponents of this argument include the Corporate Leaders Group (CLG), SolarPower Europe, Eurelectric, and WindEurope. These industry associations argue that robust and clear climate policy and regulation can in fact enhance European competitiveness on an international scale.
Venetia Roxburgh, European Program Manager at InfluenceMap said
Industry associations in the EU appear to be fighting a losing battle against the tide of positive corporate action on climate policies and need to urgently reassess their priorities if they are to continue to act as true representatives of the majority of their membership. Their go-to-argument, that science-aligned action on climate is bad for European business competitiveness, is looking out of date and is putting the EU at risk of being left behind on the energy transition at a crucial inflection point in climate policy globally.
Dominic Gogol, Director of Policy at We Mean Business Coalition said
Recent polling shows that business leaders overwhelmingly support a rapid transition to renewable energy. Now, this research from InfluenceMap reveals that companies are acting on that strategic direction and treating climate action as material to their business. This is not the preoccupation of a minority, but an increasingly significant portion of the corporate sector that use science-aligned policy engagement as a tool for safeguarding strategic investments in the energy transition. It is incumbent on the rest of the business and investor community to take note of these positive trends. The case is clear: reducing emissions offers a pathway to operational efficiencies, greater resilience and reduced risk. Companies must take proactive steps to ensure their lobbying and association memberships support – not undermine – their business goals.
Kitty Hatchley, Media Manager, InfluenceMap (London)
Email: kitty.hatchley {@} influencemap.org
(1) This study considers nearly 200 companies with legal domicile in "EU plus" (EU Members and the UK, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein). It does not include US companies with significant European operations, nor does it include "reverse headquarters" companies who have switched domicile to Ireland, for example from the US