Who let 500 fossil fuel lobbyists in at the world’s most important climate summit?
Global Witness, Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory and Glasgow Calls Out Polluters have released a new analysis showing that fossil fuel lobbyists at COP26 outnumber even the largest country delegations.
The analysis found that:
- If the fossil fuel lobby were a country delegation at COP it would be the largest with 503 delegates – two dozen more than the largest country delegation.
- Over 100 fossil fuel companies are represented at COP with 30 trade associations and membership organisations also present
- Fossil fuel lobbyists dwarf the UNFCCC’s official indigenous constituency by around two to one.
- The fossil fuel lobby at COP is larger than the combined total of the eight delegations from the countries worst affected by climate change in the last two decades – Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Haiti, Philippines, Mozambique, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Pakistan.
- 27 official country delegations registered fossil fuel lobbyists, including Canada, Russia and Brazil
This clearly shows the huge and damaging influence that the fossil fuel industry has on the COP process and demonstrates the need to tackle these conflicts of interest in the UN process and put in place effective policies to block the access of the fossil fuel industry to public decision makers.
A media release with the details of the analysis is here and is currently the lead story on the BBC.
“In politics, corporations, communities and households across every culture, ethnicity and nationality, people have recognised that the game is up, the bullshit has to end. Some are panicking and others are rapidly repositioning but they all know the global community will no longer put up with being lied to, bought off and pacified by denial, obfuscation and delay at the behest of the fossil fuel industry.”
~ Christine Milne, former leader of the Australian Greens