HQ Team
December 8, 2023: A record number of 2,456 fuel lobbyists, tied to the world’s biggest polluting oil and gas firms and their trade groups, have been granted access to the COP28 summit in Dubai.
In a year, when global temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions shattered records, there has been an explosion of fossil fuel lobbyists attending UN talks.
The number of lobbyists rose four times more than those that were granted access last year, according to the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition.
“Big Polluters’ poisonous presence has bogged us down for years, keeping us from advancing the pathways needed to keep fossil fuels in the ground,” said Alexia Leclercq, co-founder and environmental justice activist of Start: Empowerment.
‘Not climate reality’
“They are the reason COP28 is clouded in a fog of climate denial, not climate reality.”
More fossil lobbyists were granted access to COP28 than almost every country delegation.
The 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists are only outnumbered by the 3,081 people brought by Brazil, and the UAE, which as COP28 hosts, roping in 4,409 people.
Fossil fuel lobbyists have received more passes to COP28 than all the delegates from the ten most climate-vulnerable combined (1,509), “underscoring how industry presence is dwarfing that of those on the frontline of the crisis.”
A vast number of fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to the COP as part of a trade association.
Line-by-line analysis
The Kick Big Polluters Out coalition analysed the provisional list of participants at COP28 line-by-line in the most in-depth study into the fossil fuel industry’s presence at any talks to date.
The largest was the Geneva-based International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), which brought 116 people including representatives from Big Polluters Shell, TotalEnergies and Norway’s Equinor.
The UN climate change conference is being used by Big Polluters as an opportunity to advance a fossil-fuelled agenda at the expense of frontline communities.
The lobbyists outweigh indigenous representatives by seven to one.
France brought fossil fuel giants such as TotalEnergies and EDF as part of its country delegation, Italy brought a team of ENI representatives, and the European Union brought employees of BP, ENI and ExxonMobil.
Greenwashing
“In years past COPs have become an avenue for many companies to greenwash their polluting businesses and foist dangerous distractions from real climate action,” said Caroline Muturi of IBON Africa.
“This hinders the meaningful participation of African communities and the rest of the Global South in shaping climate policies that will primarily affect them.”
Last year, the coalition’s analysis showed that at least 636 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to the COP27 climate talks in Egypt, up from 503 the year before that in Glasgow.
Recent findings have also found that fossil fuel lobbyists have attended COPs at least 7200 times over the last two decades.
“Polluting companies and their government enablers continue to invest billions in new oil and gas,” said David Tong, Oil Change International, Global Industry Campaign Manager.
“If governments leave the “when” and “how” of the end of oil and gas up to profit-driven executives, the outcome will be disastrous for people and the planet – fossil fuel lobbyists must be kicked out of COP.”
