Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC) strategically engaged with climate change policy in Europe with negative positions in 2022-24. The association's engagement stresses negative impacts on EU industrial competitiveness from climate policy, and is unsupportive of several key pieces of EU legislation, such as the EU Emissions Trading System and the EU Renewable Energy Directive.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: The International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC) does not appear to support climate policy in its top-line messaging. The President of IFIEC Europe, Peter Claes signed the Antwerp Declaration which did not clearly support the EU’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050, emphasizing the risks of deindustrialization from the target. The Declaration supported an EU Industrial Deal while advocating against implementing prescriptive regulations following the EU Green Deal targets, and emphasized the impacts on international competitiveness from climate policy. InfluenceMap did not detect positions on the UN Climate Treaty in 2022-24.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: The International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC) seemed to engage mostly negatively with specific climate regulations in the EU in 2022-24. The association advocated against intervention in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) in a February 2023 EU public consultation response, suggesting it should continue to protect against carbon leakage. IFIEC also advocated to weaken several ETS provisions in another EU public consultation response in January 2024. The association consistently stressed carbon leakage risks from the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM), for example in a May 2023 comment on the Net Zero Industry Act, and advocated for export rebates in a EU public consultation response in June 2023, a position which is misaligned with the EU Commission.
IFIEC does not appear to support energy efficiency legislation, for example, it did not support the reform of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive in a June 2023 comment to policymakers. Furthermore, it seemed to support marked-based solutions to manage demand response in a February 2023 EU public consultation in the EU Electricity Market Design reform. The association supported the use of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to scale up renewable energy capacity in a December 2023 joint statement, but appeared to advocate for technology neutrality. IFIEC also advocated to weaken the EU Renewable Energy Directive by supporting the inclusion of low-carbon hydrogen in the policy in a March 2023 open letter to EU policymakers.
IFIEC has not stated clear support for an EU 2040 climate target of 90% GHG emissions reductions, such as in a February 2024 joint industry statement.
Positioning on Energy Transition: The International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC) engages with the energy transition and the decarbonization of industry with predominantly negative positions. In an August 2023 EU public consultation response IFIEC supported the EU Industrial Carbon Management Strategy with exceptions, advocating to scale up Carbon Capture Storage and/or Utilization (CCU/S) without specifying the use for saved carbon, and not supporting requirements on lifespan and end of life criteria in the Carbon Removals Certification Framework. The association advocated to weaken the ambition of the EU Net Zero Industry Act in a May 2023 consultation, supporting an expansion of the definition of net-zero technologies, and emphasizing the impacts on competitiveness from decarbonization measures.
IFIEC emphasized the costs of the transition to renewables and low-carbon cases in a June 2023 comment to EU policymakers. It also advocated for a broader definition of low-carbon hydrogen in a joint statement on the EU Hydrogen and Gas Decarbonization Package Delegated Act, a position which is misaligned with the EU Commission’s original ambition.
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 association’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2024.