Evonik Industries AG – Lobbying Governance & Transparency

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Lobbying Governance

Overall Assessment	Analysis	Score
Moderate	Evonik Industries AG demonstrates a moderate level of governance in its lobbying activities, with some processes in place to align its engagement with climate-related goals. The company states that "Our Strategic Communication function is charged with political communication activities in Germany and Europe; operational responsibility lies with the Governmental Affairs department," and that the head of this function "reports regularly to the responsible member of the executive board, who is the executive board chairman." This indicates a clear oversight structure for lobbying activities. Additionally, Evonik mentions that "All of these memberships and activities are steered and decided by a cross-functional high-level committee (so-called sustainability council)," which suggests some level of governance over indirect lobbying through trade associations and networks. However, while Evonik supports the objectives of the Paris Agreement and is involved in networks such as Chemistry4Climate and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the company does not disclose a detailed process for monitoring or managing the alignment of its lobbying activities with climate goals. Furthermore, while Evonik provides transparency through entries in the German and European lobby registers, this is primarily a compliance measure and does not constitute evidence of a robust internal governance framework for lobbying alignment. The company does not disclose any specific mechanisms, such as periodic reviews or audits, to ensure that its lobbying activities—both direct and indirect—are consistently aligned with its climate strategy. Overall, while there are indications of oversight and alignment efforts, the disclosures lack comprehensive detail on monitoring processes and alignment enforcement. View Sources	C

Overall Assessment

Analysis

Score

Moderate

Evonik Industries AG demonstrates a moderate level of governance in its lobbying activities, with some processes in place to align its engagement with climate-related goals. The company states that "Our Strategic Communication function is charged with political communication activities in Germany and Europe; operational responsibility lies with the Governmental Affairs department," and that the head of this function "reports regularly to the responsible member of the executive board, who is the executive board chairman." This indicates a clear oversight structure for lobbying activities. Additionally, Evonik mentions that "All of these memberships and activities are steered and decided by a cross-functional high-level committee (so-called sustainability council)," which suggests some level of governance over indirect lobbying through trade associations and networks. However, while Evonik supports the objectives of the Paris Agreement and is involved in networks such as Chemistry4Climate and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the company does not disclose a detailed process for monitoring or managing the alignment of its lobbying activities with climate goals. Furthermore, while Evonik provides transparency through entries in the German and European lobby registers, this is primarily a compliance measure and does not constitute evidence of a robust internal governance framework for lobbying alignment. The company does not disclose any specific mechanisms, such as periodic reviews or audits, to ensure that its lobbying activities—both direct and indirect—are consistently aligned with its climate strategy. Overall, while there are indications of oversight and alignment efforts, the disclosures lack comprehensive detail on monitoring processes and alignment enforcement.

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Lobbying Transparency

Overall Assessment	Analysis	Score
Comprehensive	Evonik provides a highly detailed picture of its climate- and sustainability-related lobbying. It names multiple specific regulatory files it engages on, including the European Green Deal, the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the proposed restriction of PFAS under the REACH Regulation, REACH-type frameworks in South Korea, Turkey and the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and forthcoming EU soil legislation, demonstrating full transparency over the concrete policies in scope. The company also explains how it seeks to influence these dossiers, citing direct participation in public consultations, the submission of supplementary data to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and indirect advocacy through industry bodies such as Cefic and the German federation VCI, while identifying clear targets such as the EU Commission, ECHA and other regional regulators. Finally, Evonik is explicit about the outcomes it is pursuing: it advocates for “the retention of REACH as the central regulatory instrument for chemicals,” presses for changes to the European Green Deal to be implemented “circumspectly,” opposes the “generic risk approach” and the blanket PFAS ban that it says would disrupt value chains, and calls for timely guidance on microplastics rules to secure planning reliability. Together, these disclosures show a comprehensive level of transparency across the policies lobbied, the mechanisms employed, and the specific legislative outcomes sought.	A