Saint-Gobain
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
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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
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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
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DATA SOURCES | |||||||
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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. |
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Communication of Climate Science
Is the organization transparent and clear about its position on climate change science? |
1
|
2
|
NS | NS | NS | NS | NA | 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
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NA |
2
|
NS |
1
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NA | NA |
Supporting the Need for Regulations
To what extent does the organization express the need for regulatory intervention to resolve the climate crisis? |
0
|
1
|
NS |
1
|
NS |
0
|
NA | NA |
Support of UN Climate Process
Is the organization supporting the UN FCCC process on climate change? |
1
|
1
|
NA | NS | NS | NS | NA | NA |
Transparency on Legislation
Is the organisation transparent about its positions on climate change legislation/policy and its activities to influence it? |
-1
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NA |
1
|
NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Carbon Tax
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: carbon tax. |
NS | NS |
0
|
NS | NS |
1
|
NA | NA |
Emissions Trading
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: emissions trading. |
NS | NS |
0
|
NS | NS |
0
|
NA | NA |
Energy and Resource Efficiency
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: energy efficiency policy, standards, and targets |
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
NA | 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 | NS | NS | NS | NA | 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 |
0
|
NS |
0
|
NA | 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 |
2
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
NS | NS | NA | 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? |
-2
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NS |
0
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NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |

InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Senior executive of Saint-Gobain is a board member of NAM
Mark Rayfield

InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
The CEO of a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain is a board Member of NAM
John T. Crowe

InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Senior executive of Saint-Gobain is a board member of NAM
Mark Rayfield

InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
The CEO of a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain is a board Member of NAM
John T. Crowe

InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Senior Executive is on the Directing Committee of UNIDEN
Frederic Degas

InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Saint-Gobain is an indirect member of IFIEC through membership of association UNIDEN

InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Senior Executive is on the Directing Committee of UNIDEN
Frederic Degas

InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Saint-Gobain is an indirect member of IFIEC through membership of association UNIDEN
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: Saint-Gobain appears to be broadly supportive of climate change policy and regulation, engaging heavily with policies relating to the construction industry such as the EU’s Renovation Wave.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Saint-Gobain has stated its support for limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 °C and, in response to the EU’s Climate Law in 2020, endorsed the EU’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050. The company supported a stable legal framework to achieve the 2050 goal in response to the 2020 Climate Law consultation, and advocated for the introduction of a carbon price in its 2019 Universal Registration Document. However, the CEO Pierre-André de Chalendar, in an interview regarding carbon neutrality in 2020, stressed the threat of carbon leakage and the risk of unilateral action due to French and European government climate regulation becoming more ambitious than other regions, although stating support for the action itself. The CEO seems to advocate for incentives over regulation, stating in 2020 that he supports an incentivizing and reasoned system, and is against a punitive approach.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: In 2020, Saint-Gobain strongly supported increasing the EU’s 2030 Climate Target in response to an EU consultation on the Climate Target Plan in 2020, and supported binding targets for 2030 and 2040 in a comment on the EU Climate Law in the same year. The CEO stated support for a carbon border adjustment mechanism in the EU to protect against carbon leakage in an interview in 2020, but did not place conditions on the removal of existing exemptions for industry in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Saint-Gobain strongly supports energy efficiency legislation in the buildings sector. In 2020, in response to a consultation on the EU’s Renovation Wave initiative, the company advocated for minimum energy performance standards and strongly supported an EU policy framework for renovation. Also in 2020, the company supported building renovation policy in France in a press release and on the corporate website supported the Green Homes Grant in the UK. In 2021 in an open letter to EU Vice-President Timmermans Saint-Gobain advocated for the prioritization of energy efficiency legislation to decarbonize the buildings sector over renewable hydrogen.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Saint-Gobain in 2020 on its corporate website supported the transition to a low carbon economy, and in 2021 in an open letter to EU Vice-President Timmermans advocated for the decarbonization of the building sector. The CEO in an interview in 2020 supported the decarbonization of the energy mix, and advocated for the electrification of industry.
Industry Association Governance: Saint-Gobain is a member of several trade associations, some of which appear to take oppositional positions on climate policy such as the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC). A senior executive is on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in the US, a trade association which takes a negative position on climate policy in the US. Saint-Gobain does not disclose a list of its trade association memberships, and has not published a review of misalignment with industry groups.