European companies are increasingly lobbying for strong climate action, and research has found in “deep change” that analysts say they challenge the narrative that companies view green rules as a threat to profits.
According to an analysis of the largest European companies by InfluenceMap, corporate lobbying “surged from 3% in 2019 to 23% in 2025, with the share of companies considered “inconsistent” falling from 34% to 14%, resulting in a decline in the share of companies that are “aligned” with the pathways to reach global climate targets.
The report found that more than half of the companies were at least “partially partially aligned” to prevent pre-industrial levels from reaching 1.5°C by the end of the century.
“People who speak out and organize to oppose the energy transition achieve great importance throughout the entire public debate,” said Venetia Roxburgh, an analyst at InfluenceMap, a nonprofit that tracks corporate lobbying. “However, this study shows that there is a larger, quiet majority that supports promoting progress through decarbonization and climate policy.”
Researchers tracked business engagement on climate policy through a range of channels, from company disclosures to EU consultation documents and social media posts. They gave more weight to statements from managers and formal consultations on specific policies, making recent evidence even more important.
They found that a larger and greater proportion of the corporate sector is engaged in aggressive climate advocacy.
In 2019, when the European Commission announced the Green Deal, only one in four companies lobbyed in part in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of preventing the planet from heating 1.5c (2.7F). By 2025, its share has doubled.
Researchers found that industry groups were lagging behind individual companies. The share of an aligned or partially aligned association increased from 2% in 2019 to 12% in 2025, far below the share of similar supporters.
The disparity may arise from industry groups that prioritize the views of the biggest opponents of climate policy, but it could be the result of companies channeling offensive lobbying requests through trade groups.
“It appears that the EU industry association is fighting a losing battle against the tide of positive corporate action on climate policy,” Roxborough said. “[They]need to urgently reassess their priorities to continue acting as true representatives of most of their membership.”
The worst company in rankings weighted by level of engagement on policy was the Polish utility PGE. Austrian oil and gas producer OMV. Spanish oil and gas producer Repsol. Enaga is a Spanish transmission system operator. German airline Lufthansa.
Energas, which advocates for weakening measures to support the long-term role of fossil gas in energy and transport and to undermine measures to detect and repair methane emission leaks, said it is committed to reaching zero emissions by 2040. It added that it was embracing EU methane regulation.
Lufthansa cited the impact cited as lobbying for the EU’s mission for sustainable aviation fuels and the EU’s mission to include aviation entirely in the EU emissions trading system, but said it was not opposed to either policy and called for a “competitive neutral implementation.”
PGE, OMV, and Repsol did not respond to requests for comment.
The European Commission has placed “competitiveness” at the heart of the agenda since the new mission began in December, earning a significant green right edge and loss in a partial reversal of the green trade after the 2024 election.
Environmental groups have criticised the new focus on simplification as the cover of deregulation that allows businesses to become more polluted.