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New evidence has emerged showing that US oil major ExxonMobil met with European Commission officials in an attempt to influence the European Green Deal on climate change, three weeks before the plan’s announcement in December 2019. Notes from the November 21st, 2019 meeting (obtained by InfluenceMap via a Freedom of Information request from the Commission) show ExxonMobil representatives pushed for the EU Commission to change its approach to climate regulation in the transport sector, including removing the EU’s strict CO2 vehicle tailpipe standards, in what appears to have been an effort to stall a push towards electric vehicles. A direct extract from the meeting notes indicate the un-named ExxonMobil officials argued that the EU should:
"Give serious consideration to extending ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) beyond stationary sources. Tail pipe emission legislation should be substituted with power plant to wheel emission regulation."
The European Commission's subsequent Green Deal announcement included increased ambition for the transport sector, including plans for stricter standards for internal combustion engines. However, the Commission did commit to an impact assessment on whether to include road transport into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), a policy seemingly pushed by ExxonMobil in the meeting but opposed by climate policy experts such as Transport Environment and Carbon Market Watch.
The new evidence is the latest example of ExxonMobil’s attempts to influence climate legislation globally and comes after the US oil major’s lobbyists avoided a ban from the European Parliament in 2019 after failing to attend a hearing on climate denial. A PDF copy of the meeting notes accessed by InfluenceMap via the FOI can be downloaded below, along with detailed commentary from InfluenceMap on what the evidence shows about ExxonMobil's lobbying positions.