Lowe's Cos Inc – Lobbying Governance & Transparency

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Lobbying Governance

Overall Assessment	Analysis	Score
Moderate	Lowe’s Companies Inc. has established a defined governance framework for its lobbying activities, featuring board-level oversight and executive leadership but without a dedicated focus on climate lobbying. The Political Engagement and Contributions Policy explains that “the nominating and governance committee of our Board of Directors has oversight of Lowe’s government affairs activities, including lobbying priorities, trade association memberships and LOWPAC,” and that “the vice president of government affairs manages our political and government affairs programs and has responsibility for ensuring that all Lowe’s legislative and regulatory practices are in compliance with U.S. federal and state laws, regulations and reporting requirements.” This framework encompasses both direct lobbying—where “Lowe’s government affairs (GA) team regularly assesses and evaluates the company's relationships with all current trade associations to ensure alignment with the company’s strategy”—and indirect engagement through trade associations, as the GA team “actively participates and communicates with trade associations to help shape their agendas and priorities (e.g., serving on trade associations’ boards), and to maintain real-time knowledge of their advocacy positions and policies.” Lowe’s also “provides transparency by publishing annual reports of the company's political contributions and the aggregate dues paid to trade associations that engage in lobbying activities,” and notes that “our PAC contributions are publicly available on the Federal Election Commission website.” However, the company does not disclose any climate-specific lobbying governance process or audit, no detailed report or third-party review assessing the alignment of its lobbying with climate objectives, and no explicit description of how its Paris Agreement commitment is operationalized within its lobbying activities. View Sources	C

Overall Assessment

Analysis

Score

Moderate

Lowe’s Companies Inc. has established a defined governance framework for its lobbying activities, featuring board-level oversight and executive leadership but without a dedicated focus on climate lobbying. The Political Engagement and Contributions Policy explains that “the nominating and governance committee of our Board of Directors has oversight of Lowe’s government affairs activities, including lobbying priorities, trade association memberships and LOWPAC,” and that “the vice president of government affairs manages our political and government affairs programs and has responsibility for ensuring that all Lowe’s legislative and regulatory practices are in compliance with U.S. federal and state laws, regulations and reporting requirements.” This framework encompasses both direct lobbying—where “Lowe’s government affairs (GA) team regularly assesses and evaluates the company's relationships with all current trade associations to ensure alignment with the company’s strategy”—and indirect engagement through trade associations, as the GA team “actively participates and communicates with trade associations to help shape their agendas and priorities (e.g., serving on trade associations’ boards), and to maintain real-time knowledge of their advocacy positions and policies.” Lowe’s also “provides transparency by publishing annual reports of the company's political contributions and the aggregate dues paid to trade associations that engage in lobbying activities,” and notes that “our PAC contributions are publicly available on the Federal Election Commission website.” However, the company does not disclose any climate-specific lobbying governance process or audit, no detailed report or third-party review assessing the alignment of its lobbying with climate objectives, and no explicit description of how its Paris Agreement commitment is operationalized within its lobbying activities.

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Lobbying Transparency

Overall Assessment	Analysis	Score
Moderate	Lowe’s provides a moderate degree of transparency on its climate-related advocacy. The company names several identifiable measures it engages on, including the U.S. EPA’s “ENERGY STAR® program,” the EPA “SmartWay” freight initiative and the “consumer rebate provisions enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act,” as well as broader “incentives to encourage consumers to take on additional energy efficiency projects.” This clarifies the specific policies that sit at the centre of its lobbying agenda. However, the description of how Lowe’s seeks to influence these measures is sparse. Disclosures state that its government affairs team is “in discussions with legislators and regulators,” participates in trade associations, serves on association boards and channels political donations through LOWPAC, but they do not give concrete examples of meetings, letters or consultation submissions, nor do they identify the individual agencies or lawmakers contacted apart from the reference to the “ENERGY STAR team.” Similarly, the outcomes the company is pursuing are expressed only in broad terms: it declares “support with no exceptions” for the IRA consumer rebates and advocacy for the continuation of the ENERGY STAR program, yet offers no measurable targets, timelines or detailed policy changes it is seeking. Overall, Lowe’s is clear about which climate policies it is involved with, but offers only limited insight into the mechanisms it uses and the precise legislative or regulatory outcomes it aims to achieve.	C