J Sainsbury PLC

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Direct Lobbying Transparency

Overall Assessment	Comment	Score
Comprehensive	J Sainsbury PLC provides extensive, specific and consistent disclosure of its climate-policy lobbying. It lists a broad suite of measures it has engaged on, including the UK Transition Plan Taskforce framework, “mandatory GHG reporting”, “ESOS in the UK”, a “stable and transparent carbon tax policy”, the “Feed-In Tariffs (including the Government’s Solar Strategy)”, the “Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)”, and the waste-related “Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)” and “Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)” proposals, demonstrating clarity about the exact policies addressed. The company also explains how it seeks to influence those measures, citing mechanisms such as “direct engagement with the Minister”, “store visits and presentations on our investment in renewables to government officials reviewing the Renewable Heat Incentive”, participation in the “TPT Sandbox Coalition, a consultation process”, and “responding to relevant consultations … and engaging via our trade bodies”, while naming the targets of those efforts (e.g. DEFRA, ministers and back-bench MPs). Finally, Sainsbury’s is explicit about the changes it wants to see: it backs “the mandatory implementation of Net Zero transition plans”, calls for “simplified carbon reporting procedures for mandatory GHG reporting and ESOS”, supports “a stable and transparent carbon tax policy”, seeks “a UK-wide scheme” for DRS and “sufficient time for retailers to implement necessary changes” under EPR, and presses for cocoa to be included in forthcoming deforestation legislation. This level of detail on the policies, the channels used to reach policymakers, and the concrete legislative outcomes being promoted reflects a comprehensive degree of transparency in the company’s climate-related lobbying disclosures.	4

Lobbying Governance

Overall Assessment	Comment	Score
Moderate	J Sainsbury PLC has woven oversight of its climate-related engagement into its existing sustainability governance structures, though it does not disclose a dedicated lobbying governance framework aligned with its climate strategy. The PLC Board “is the principal decision-making body that oversees our climate change related issues/goals/targets,” and its Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Committee regularly “reviews the sustainability strategy and monitors the business engagement with our key stakeholders, including climate-related matters.” The Plan for Better Steering Committee, chaired by the CMO, met six times in the year and “provided regular updates to the CR&S Committee and Operating Board” on performance against climate-related metrics. The company confirms “Does your organization have a public commitment or position statement to conduct your engagement activities in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement? Yes,” and highlights that “The Government Affairs team provides regular updates to the Plan for Better Steering Committee, Operating Board and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Committee on relevant legislation and regulation impacting Plan for Better, including those relating to climate.” However, the company does not disclose a formal process for reviewing or enforcing alignment of its direct and indirect lobbying activities with its climate policy, nor criteria for assessing its participation in trade associations or an independent audit of its climate lobbying.	2