Decarb Initiative

The Good Lobby Decarb Initiative:
Decarbonising Professional Influence

Public affairs consultancies and law firms dominate the lobbying landscape and hold substantial influence on behalf of their industry clients. Half of the top ten lobbying spenders at the European level are public affairs and law firms. And so are 27 of the top 100, collectively disbursing more than EUR 100 million annually on lobbying expenditures. By concentrating lobbying power and serving as a prime attractor for recruits in the lobbying field they also drive innovation and help evolve the self-understanding and normative principles of the lobbying profession. All of this makes public affairs and law firms a critical group of actors on the journey towards “decarbonizing lobbying” –-  ensuring that lobbyists are not putting their expertise and connections at the service of the fossil fuel industry and other companies that seek to derail the energy transition and our global resolve to combat climate change.

Aims

‘Decarb Lobbying’ seeks to uncover: 

How much public affairs and law firms provide lobbying services to the fossil fuel industry

Whether these services contradict these firms’ sustainability commitments and correspondingly

The extent to which these firms rely on the fossil fuel sector in terms of overall revenues 

Theory of Change

Decarbonising lobbying in this context means to encourage public affairs and law firms to apply their lobbying skills in a responsible manner, aligned with planetary boundaries, in what clients and what briefs they take on and how they exercise their influence.

The decarbonising professional influence initiative (Decarb) proceeds in three steps: 

Disclose how much lobbying spending is diverted by fossil fuel firms to public affairs and law firms (who is lobbying for which fossil fuel company) and how reliant these firms are on their fossil fuel clients (how dependent are they on such clients in terms of their underlying business model). By identifying the most fossil fuel-entrenched firms, we aim to illuminate the structural dynamics that perpetuate fossil fuel lobbying.

Identify potential levers for change in the broader ecosystem and brainstorm specific action options: is there a role for consumers, employees or shareholders? How can incentives be rewired to encourage these professionals to cut ties with fossil fuel clients? Which types of alliances and paths for change are most promising?  This phase also examines promising alliances and strategies that could catalyse change across the sector.

Explore ways to support internal agents of change: Are there any emerging professional norms and good practices that can serve as reference points for employees to work inside their companies towards decarbonisation? How can these potential change agents be networked and equipped with potent advocacy strategies to work internally towards more responsible conduct? 

Methodology

Decarb lobbying relies on a multifaceted methodology that combines:

Primary data analysis of a number of key lobby registers

Stakeholder engagement involving key informant interviews with a diverse range of stakeholders in the broader public affairs ecosystem

A scan of the existing empirical literature to further contextualise findings and identify gaps in the current understanding of public affairs and law firms’ role in fossil fuel lobbying

A set of networking events with public affairs professionals and other stakeholders, fostering dialogue and collaboration around decarbonisation goals

Call to Action

Our preliminary findings suggest that, while the lobbying activities of public affairs and law firms go largely under the radar of public scrutiny many of these firms do indeed act on behalf of fossil fuel companies and are relevant enablers of climate inaction. However, by and large, their revenues are not so dependent on fossil fuel clients that these accounts are essential to their existence: most lobby and law firms could easily drop their climate policy obstructing work at negligible impact on their bottom line and reap a dramatically reduced reputational risk.  For the few firms whose income streams are significantly reliant on fossil fuel, it is time for them to diversify their client portfolios.

Get Involved

How can you get involved with Decarb Lobbying? Here are a few ways to participate:

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