Guide for Responsible Corporate Engagement in Climate Policy

The 'Guide for Responsible Corporate Engagement in Climate Policy' provides a framework for companies to constructively influence climate policy to support a low-carbon economy. Developed through a consultation involving the UN Global Compact and other international organizations, the guide identifies a gap between corporate sustainability commitments and actual government affairs activities, offering a three-step action plan to align corporate influence with climate goals.

• There is a significant discrepancy among UN Global Compact signatories between their public advocacy for UN goals and the alignment of their lobbying activities with corporate responsibility commitments. While approximately 60 per cent of 1,700 surveyed companies publicly advocate for action, only 30 per cent align their traditional government affairs activities, such as lobbying, with commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• A subset of 350 UN Global Compact signatories committed to actively engaging with national governments, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society to create an enabling framework for a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy; the Caring for Climate Progress Report 2013 indicates that 62 per cent of these companies now fulfill this commitment.
• Responsible corporate engagement in climate policy is based on five core elements: legitimacy, opportunity, accountability, consistency, and transparency.
• The guide outlines three practical actions for companies to ensure responsible engagement: first, creating an inventory of direct and indirect influences on climate policy; second, conducting an internal review via a ten-question checklist to align words with actions and ambitions; and third, using a three-tiered framework to report policy positions and outcomes to stakeholders and investors.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Guide for Responsible Corporate Engagement in Climate Policy. https://www.wri.org/research/guide-responsible-corporate-engagement-climate-policy

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Guide for Responsible Corporate Engagement in Climate Policy. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/guide-responsible-corporate-engagement-climate-policy.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Guide for Responsible Corporate Engagement in Climate Policy |url=https://www.wri.org/research/guide-responsible-corporate-engagement-climate-policy |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendguide, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Guide for Responsible Corporate Engagement in Climate Policy}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/guide-responsible-corporate-engagement-climate-policy}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }