Investor community launched global standards on responsible climate lobbying

The Global Standard on Responsible Climate Lobbying (RCLS) has been launched on 14th May by a group of well-known investor networks (see below), calling on asset owners, managers, and the companies in which they invest to embed the standards and unlock actions on climate transition initiatives.

The standard contains 14 indicators for companies to assess their lobbying activities in terms of Policies & Commitment, Governance, Actions and Disclosure to support limiting global warming to 1.5⁰C. It is intended to be applicable to companies from all regions and sectors that engage politically on climate topics - where there is misalignment with the attainment of the Paris Goals, corrective action should be taken.

The development of the standards was instigated by AP7, BNP Paribas Asset Management and the Church of England Pensions Board, in a process supported by Chronos Sustainability. The consultations involved more than 150 stakeholders from a range of professional backgrounds and regions.

We submitted a response to the consultation to ensure that Chronos Sustainability was aware of the RLF, and there would be alignment. We are pleased to see that the RCLS indicators have incorporated the Responsible Lobbying Framework (RLF) Principles and set expectations around commitment to public interest  (Principle 1. Legitimacy), governance mechanisms (Principle 4. Accountability), actions through associations (Principle 3. Consistency) and disclosure (Principle 2. Transparency).

Signatories (to be updated on a rolling basis)

According to the RCLS, InfluenceMap has started to apply the 14 indicators in April with a pilot assessment and will extend it to the Energy and other sectors later in 2022.