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.
We have expanded the list of climate policies we assess company engagement with to incorporate land-use related policy, referring to legislative or regulatory measures to enhance and protect ecosystems and land where carbon is being stored. Assessments under this category are currently underweighted in terms of their contribution to the overall company metrics. This weighting will be progressively increased over the next 6 months.
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: Nestlé is positively and strategically engaged with climate and energy policy in 2022-24. Nestlé takes supportive positions in its top-line messaging on climate, and predominantly supports specific climate change regulations. The company retains memberships of several industry associations engaging with some negative positions on climate policy.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Nestlé took positive positions in its top-line communications on climate change in 2022-24. In its January 2024 Agriculture Framework, the company stated a clear and detailed position on climate change science and how the land-use sector contributes to it. Nestlé supported GHG emissions reductions in line with the 1.5°C target in 2023 CDP Climate Change Information Request. In its industry association review published in May 2023, Nestlé supported ambitious climate policy and Nationally Determined Contributions in line with IPCC recommendations.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Nestlé engaged with positive positions on specific climate policies in both the EU and the US in 2022-24. In a comment submitted to the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall through Ceres in September 2022, Nestlé advocated for policymakers to preserve Virginia's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. In the same comment, the company advocated for ambitious energy efficiency measures in Virginia's 2022 Energy Plan. Nestlé appeared to support energy efficiency targets and legislation in an October 2023 joint letter. In October 2023, Nestlé submitted a joint comment advocating for US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to adopt the strongest possible Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards for all vehicle classes. The company strongly supported a more ambitious EU Renewable Energy Directive in a May 2022 open letter. Nestlé appeared supportive of GHG emissions targets in an October 2023 joint letter that called for halving GHG emissions by 2030 globally. In the same joint letter, the company actively supported renewable energy targets.
Engagement with Land Use-Related Regulations: Nestlé appears to support climate policy in the land-use sector with some exceptions and with limited public engagement on specific policies in 2023-2024. The company appeared to generally support making agricultural production more efficient and scale up regenerative agriculture practices but with no clear support stated for a transition of consumer diets. In a July 2022 consultation response on the EU Sustainable Food Systems legislation, the company appeared to support specific EU targets to scale up sustainable food systems but only in the absence of global targets. The company also stated support for the transition to ‘sustainable diets’ but did not clearly state support for reducing consumption of meat and dairy products. In an October 2023 joint letter, Nestlé’s CEO generally supported policy for protecting and enhancing carbon sinks and reservoirs, and in a July 2022 joint letter stated that “there is no net zero without ending deforestation.”
Positioning on Energy Transition: Nestlé strongly supported the transition of the energy mix in 2022-24. In an October 2023 joint letter, the company supported the urgent decarbonization of the power sector alongside the removal of fossil fuel subsidies, stating those resources could be repurposed towards clean energy measures. Nestlé also disclosed engagement with US policymakers in support of the Build Back Better Act and the electrification of transportation in multiple disclosures, such as in Q3 of 2022. In a joint letter from August 2023, the company strongly supported the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s proposed power plant rules and advocated for more ambitious standards to address coal and gas plant GHG emissions.
Industry Association Governance: Nestlé published a comprehensive disclosure of its industry associations memberships, however, disclosure of their climate policy positions was limited to top-line climate statements from its associations without reference to specific climate policies. Nestlé is a member of some industry association engaging with primarily unsupportive positions on the energy transition such as the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and The National Business Association of Colombia (ANDI).
A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2024.