Danone
What do our scores mean?
The organizational score represents the degree to which the organization influencing climate policy and legislation. Corporations also have relationship scores reflecting their links with influencers like trade associations. Both are combined to place the corporation in a performance band. Full details can be found here.
Engagement Intensity
The engagement intensity (EI) is a metric of the extent to which the company is engaging on climate change policy matters, whether positively or negatively. It is a number from 0 (no engagement at all) to 100 (full engagement on all queries/data points). Clearly energy companies are more affected by climate regulations and will have a higher EI than, for example retailers. So an organization’s score should be looked at in conjunction with this metric to gauge the amount of evidence we are using in each case as a basis for scoring. On our scale, an EI of more than 35 indicates a relatively large amount of climate policy engagement.
Relationship Score, December 2020
A new batch of industry associations has been uploaded onto the InfluenceMap system and the relationship scores recalculated accordingly.
Updated terminology, February 2021
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
- Details of Organization Score
-
What do the 0,1,2 and NSs, NAs mean?
Each cell in the organization's matrix presents a chance for us to assess each data source against our column of climate change policy queries. We score from -2 to 2, with negative scores representing evidence of obstructive influence. "NA" means "not applicable" and "NS" means "not scored" - that is we did not find any evidence either way. In both cases, the cell's weighting is re-distributed over others. Red and blue cells represent highly interesting negative or positive influence respectively. Full details can be found here.
- Details of Relationship Score
-
What is the Relationship Score
A corporation, as well as its organizational score will have a relationship score. It is computed by aggregating the organizational scores of the Influencers (trade bodies etc.) it has relationships with, weighted by both the strength of these relationships and the relative importance of the Influencers towards climate change policy. Full details can be found here.
|
QUERIES
|
DATA SOURCES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Main Web Site
The main organizational Web site of the company and its direct links to major affiliates and attached documents. |
Social Media
We search other media and sites funded or controlled by the organization, such as social media (Twitter, Facebook) and direct advertising campaigns of the organization. |
CDP Responses
We assess and score responses to two questions from CDP's climate change information request (12.3 a & 12.3c) related to political influence questions (currently these are not numerically scored by the CDP process). |
Legislative Consultations
Comments from the entity being scored on governmental regulatory consultation processes, including those obtained by InfluenceMap through Freedom of Information requests. |
Media Reports
Here we search in a consistent manner (the organization name and relevant query search terms) a set of web sites of representing reputable news or data aggregations. Supported by targeted searches of proprietary databases. |
CEO Messaging
Here we search in a consistent manner (the CEO/Chairman, organization name and relevant query search terms) a set of web sites of representing reputable news or data aggregations. Supported by targeted searches of proprietary databases. |
Financial Disclosures
We search 10-K and 20-F SEC filings where available, and non US equivalents where not. . |
EU Register
Information provided by to the voluntary EU Transparency Register. |
|
|
Communication of Climate Science
Is the organization transparent and clear about its position on climate change science? |
2
|
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NA |
|
Alignment with IPCC on Climate Action
Is the organization supporting the science-based response to climate change as set out by the IPCC? (the IPCC) |
1
|
1
|
NA |
1
|
1
|
2
|
NS | NA |
|
Supporting the Need for Regulations
To what extent does the organization express the need for regulatory intervention to resolve the climate crisis? |
1
|
0
|
NS |
1
|
1
|
NS | NS | NA |
|
Support of UN Climate Process
Is the organization supporting the UN FCCC process on climate change? |
NS |
1
|
NS | NS |
1
|
NS | NS | NA |
|
Transparency on Legislation
Is the organisation transparent about its positions on climate change legislation/policy and its activities to influence it? |
0
|
NA |
-1
|
NA | NA | NA | NS | NA |
|
Carbon Tax
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: carbon tax. |
1
|
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NA |
|
Emissions Trading
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: emissions trading. |
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NA |
|
Energy and Resource Efficiency
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: energy efficiency policy, standards, and targets |
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NA |
|
Renewable Energy
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: Renewable energy legislation, targets, subsidies, and other policy |
NS | NS | NS |
1
|
1
|
NS | NS | NA |
|
Energy Transition & Zero Carbon Technologies
Is the organization supporting an IPCC-aligned transition of the economy away from carbon-emitting technologies, including supporting relevant policy and legislative measures to enable this transition? |
1
|
1
|
NS | NS |
1
|
NS | NS | NA |
|
GHG Emission Regulation
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: GHG emission standards and targets. Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: Standards, targets, and other regulatory measures directly targeting Greenhouse Gas emissions |
NS | NS | NS |
2
|
1
|
NS | NS | NA |
|
Disclosure on Relationships
Is the organization transparent about its involvement with industry associations that are influencing climate policy, including the extent to which it is aligned with these groups on climate? |
0
|
NS |
0
|
NA | NA | NA | NS | NA |
Open PDF file of Data Source
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Danone has an indirect relationship with MEDEF through ANIA. A Danone senior executive is on the board of ANIA
François EYRAUD
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Danone has an indirect relationship with MEDEF through ANIA. A Danone senior executive is on the board of ANIA
François EYRAUD
How to Read our Relationship Score Map
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Climate Lobbying Overview: Danone appears to be lobbying positively with climate change policy, with above average engagement. The company seems to focus primarily on high-level climate ambition and policy, but does seem to engage more strategically with US climate policy through the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA).
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Danone seems to support top-line action on climate change, stating support for climate neutrality by 2050 in the EU and for the European Green Deal in a position paper on the EU Common Food Policy in 2020. The company appears to support government regulation to respond to climate change, as a founding member of the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance advocating for policies to reduce GHG emissions and supporting the introduction of a carbon pricing scheme in the US in a Climate Policy Principles publication in 2019. However, this comes with the caveat that it must ensure competitiveness. Danone has historically supported the UN Paris Agreement, and tweeted support for the US to rejoin the treaty in 2021.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Danone does not appear to have taken a position on the EU Emissions Trading System, but in a position paper on an EU Common Food Policy in 2020 the company advocated for implementing Carbon Border Adjustments through the European Green Deal. The Huffington Post reported in 2020 that Danone urged lawmakers to tighten clean energy standards and to limit companies’ carbon emissions in the US. In a joint response with the SFPA to the proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan in 2018, the company stated support for the policy and opposed its repeal.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Danone seems to support the energy transition, stating it is “determined to help lead an industry-wide transition to a low-carbon economy” on its corporate website in 2021. Fast Company magazine reported in 2019 that the company supported measures to accelerate clean energy deployment in the US.
Industry Association Governance: Danone disclosed a list of memberships of trade associations in its 2020 Policy on Advocacy, and noted which the company has board membership of, but did not detail the climate policy positions of the groups. The company retains membership of Medef through the Association Nationale des Industries Alimentaires, and through Medef has membership of BusinessEurope, which are lobbying negatively on climate change. Danone has not completed a review of alignment on climate policy with its trade associations as of February 2021.