Summary: SOMO’s investigation, published on 2 October 2025, reveals that ExxonMobil has led an intense transatlantic lobbying campaign to undermine the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Starting in September 2024, the US oil giant pressured EU governments and the European Commission to scrap or dramatically weaken the CSDDD, arguing that it would make doing business in Europe ‘impossible’ and threatening to pull billions of dollars in investments. ExxonMobil demanded that transition plans be removed and the directive’s scope narrowed, and many of its demands were reflected in the EU’s February 2025 Omnibus proposal and the August 2025 US-EU trade agreement. CEO Darren Woods described the CSDDD as irrational and said the company might exit Europe rather than comply. The investigation concludes that Big Oil’s lobbying has derailed key sustainability and climate legislation, exposing corporate capture of policymaking and undermining efforts to hold companies accountable for environmental and human-rights abuses.