1,600 oil, gas and coal lobbyists at UN climate summit

Global warming

1,600 oil, gas and coal lobbyists at UN climate summit

Because people are burning too much coal, oil and gas, the planet is heating up dangerously. But the industry that makes money from it wants to retain influence – even at the climate conference.

The World Climate Conference is discussing how to curb global warming – but according to a data analysis, at least 1,602 lobbyists from the oil, gas and coal industries are officially accredited to the UN meeting in Brazil. This was announced by the “Kick Big Polluters Out” coalition in Belém, which is supported by the organizations Transparency International, Global Witness, Greenpeace and the Climate Action Network, among others. Publicly available data from the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) were evaluated.

According to the analysis, the lobbyists have more access passes than all delegations from the ten countries most vulnerable to global warming. These include Chad, Niger, the Solomon Islands, Micronesia, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan, Somalia, Tonga as well as Sierra Leone, Somalia and Eritrea. Together they only have 1,061 delegates in Belém.

Such lobbyists often belong to trade or business associations that are allowed to send “observers” to climate conferences. According to the analysis, 164 lobbyists were accredited directly through government delegations. France, for example, has 22 representatives from the fossil fuel sector in its official delegation, including five from TotalEnergies. And a total of 599 of the approximately 1,600 lobbyists have “Party Overflow” accreditation, which gives them access to inner negotiating circles.

The coalition of dozens of environmental and climate organizations is now demanding that the United Nations exclude major polluters from climate summits in the future so that they cannot influence delegates behind closed doors, in the hallways or at informal meetings. The argument: Their lobbying interests fundamentally contradict the climate conference’s mandate under international law to curb global warming. In addition, all participants would have to be obliged to disclose their financial sources and potential conflicts of interest in order to create transparency.

Ivonne Yanez of Accion Ecologica in Ecuador said the oil, gas and coal companies were driving the world into the abyss. And many governments are their accomplices because they bring fossil lobbyists to climate summits or at least tolerate them. “For 30 years, climate summits have provided oil companies with an ideal platform to burnish their image, do business and find new ways to commit their environmental crimes with impunity.”

The burning of oil, gas and coal releases the climate-damaging greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which dangerously heats up the planet. The fatal consequences are more frequent and severe droughts, heat waves, forest fires and storms. At the climate conference in Dubai in 2023, all 200 countries actually agreed to move away from these fossil fuels, but there are expansion plans in many countries.

According to the analysis at the time, more than 2,450 Fossil lobbyists were accredited in Dubai – a record. In comparison, the number of participants at COP30 is now lower and is also below that of last year’s summit in Azerbaijan. But the relative proportion of lobbyists has increased; now in Belém there is almost one lobbyist for every 25 delegates.

Jax Bonbon from the development organization Ibon International based in the Philippines said it was a farce that there were so many lobbyists. “It’s outrageous to see their influence grow year after year.” The victims are the UN process and the people affected who are suffering from the consequences of the climate crisis.