Aug 6 (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) has been suspended from the Climate Leadership Council (CLC) advocacy group which seeks to develop policies to tackle climate change, the CLC said on Friday.

The move comes just over a month after an Exxon lobbyist said the company publicly supported a carbon tax because the climate change plan would never gain enough political support to be adopted. Exxon CEO Darren Woods condemned the comments. Read more

“After careful consideration, we have decided to suspend ExxonMobil’s membership of both the Council and Americans for Carbon Dividends, our advocacy arm,” Greg Bertelsen, CEO of CLC, said in a statement.

Exxon was a founding member of the group along with ConocoPhillips (COP.N), BP (BP.L), Shell (RDSa.L) and Total (TTEF.PA).

The CLC’s decision marks a turnaround after supporting the oil major in June after the lobbyist’s remarks.

Exxon said in a statement that the CLC’s decision was “disappointing and counterproductive.”

“It is more important than ever for organizations to work together to advance meaningful policy solutions to address common challenges and the company’s net zero ambitions,” he said.

The company said it will continue to be part of the Alliance for Market Solutions, an organization that also works to reduce carbon pollution.

Reporting by Arathy S Nair and Sahil Shaw in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni

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