Trade association and lobbying activities

Trade associations

ExxonMobil provides support for a variety of trade associations, think tanks, and coalitions to promote informed dialogue and sound public policy in areas relevant to the company’s expertise and operations, including climate change. These areas include corporate governance, environment, education, economic development, fiscal policy, international trade, labor/pension matters, civil justice reform, public health, regulatory issues, sustainability, and workplace safety.

While some trade associations participate in the development of public policy, the majority are focused on other industry-specific issues, including developing and implementing safety standards, sharing best practices, and professional development. Where trade associations do participate in public policy, we actively encourage them to support initiatives that we believe in. This includes support for cost-effective, technology-neutral emission-reduction policies that will help society achieve a net-zero future while meeting global demand for energy products.

ExxonMobil’s participation often includes taking leadership positions on trade association boards, policy committees, and technical work groups, which provide opportunities to learn from peers and share our positions and principles. It would be impractical to expect perfect alignment between the policy priorities of each individual member company. We do, however, consistently communicate and advocate for our principles to the trade associations of which we are members.

Occasionally, trade associations we belong to oppose proposed legislation, regulation(s), or other policy initiatives that we support. This may be due to disagreement on a specific element of the policy approach, rather than disagreement on the fundamental need to address a particular issue, for example, climate change and net-zero ambitions.