Participation in industry associations

Currently, we participate in nearly 50 industry associations, coalitions, and networks at national, EU, and international level to share knowledge and best practices with other companies and engage with policymakers and stakeholders on policy development. These associations work on various policy areas, including energy, climate and sustainability. This includes both group-level memberships of Fortum Corporation and memberships of business divisions.

Our role in associations, coalitions and networks

Fortum has various levels of participation and influence in industry associations. In addition to holding general memberships, a large number of our employees are members of association boards, executive committees, expert committees and working groups. 

Moreover, besides our memberships in industry associations, we create and participate in partnerships and coalitions with our customers, other companies and stakeholders to engage in dialogue on issues such as energy transition and climate change.

Strategic review of our association memberships

We regularly review our memberships in all associations to determine their relevance and evaluate the achievements delivered through these organisations. 

Based on the review conducted in 2024 and subsequent business decisions, memberships in eight associations will be terminated. Additionally, due to the Recycling and Waste business leaving Fortum, 16 related association memberships will be transferred with the sale. As a results, the total number of associations will decrease from 67 to 43 during 2025.

Strategic associations

In the review of our association memberships in 2024, we defined five strategic associations that are most important for us: Eurelectric Eurelectric - External link, Finnish Energy Finnish Energy - External link, Swedenergy Swedenergy - External link, Nucleareurope Nucleareurope - External link and WindEurope WindEurope - External link.

In defining the strategic associations, we have applied the following criteria: 

• business interest
• alignment with our strategy
• influencing power of the association
• our possibility to influence the agenda and operation of the association
• financial and time contributions. 

As a rule, the association's scope should cover most of Fortum's key businesses, and its objectives should support Fortum’s strategic priorities. Fortum must have the ability to influence the association's agenda and operation, and the membership needs to bring added value for us.

For the strategic associations, we will prepare engagement plans including the key lobbying objectives  and an approach regarding what kind of representation roles we are looking for in the association. The key account manager for each association will develop the coordination of membership and ensure a two-way information flow.

Financial contributions

We pay annual membership fees to industry associations. Membership fees may be calculated either as fixed fees applicable to all members, or as a proportion of the annual turnover or production volumes of members. Currently, our annual membership fees sum up to approximately 1.2 M€.

Climate Lobbying Review

Every year since 2021, Fortum has conducted a Climate Lobbying Review to assess the climate policy positions of selected industry associations and our own positions against the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Climate Lobbying Review is part of our efforts to increase transparency around our advocacy related to climate change. Next review will be published in 2025. Read more about our Climate Lobbying Review.