FOSSIL FUEL LOBBYISTS FLOODING COP26 CLIMATE TALKS

Mon 08 November 2021:

A prominent human rights organization reported on Monday that more than 500 lobbyists associated with fossil fuel industries were permitted access to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, far outnumbering any national delegation.

The news comes as a number of groups throughout the world, many from countries most affected by climate change, have criticized unequal access to important climate discussions, citing obstacles such as high travel costs and a lack of protective measures in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

“At least 503 fossil fuel lobbyists, affiliated with some of the world’s biggest polluting oil and gas giants, have been granted access to COP26, flooding the Glasgow conference with corporate influence,” Global Witness said in a statement.

Global Witness has examined the UN’s provisional list of named attendees, along with other NGOs such as Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory, and Glasgow Calls Out Polluters, to determine how many corporate actors with a stake in the continued use of fossil fuels have been granted access to the event.

Researchers counted the number of individuals either directly affiliated with fossil fuel corporations, including the likes of Shell, Gazprom and BP or attending as members of delegations that act on behalf of the fossil fuel industry.

With over 100 fossil fuel companies, 30 trade groups, and membership organizations participating at the COP26, the number of fossil industry lobbyists is “two dozen more than the largest country delegation,” according to the research.

“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,” the statement read, adding that 27 official national delegations registered fossil fuel lobbyists, including Canada, Russia and Brazil.

An investigation by The Ferret, a cooperatively owned newsroom in Scotland, found that 35 side events at the summit are being organized by — or feature — big polluting companies and groups that represent them. They include banks like Goldman Sachs, which invests in fossil fuels, and lobby group, the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers.

How does corporate lobbying hold back climate action?

Powerful companies continue to fight policies that would make it harder for them to sell fossil fuels.

A report by UK think tank Influence Map in 2019 found the five largest publicly traded oil and gas majors — ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and Total — invested more than $1 billion (€860 million) of shareholder funds into “misleading climate branding and lobbying” in the three years following the Paris Agreement.

In many cases, oil and gas companies try to change public perception using the same messages with which they lobby politicians, said Faye Holder, a climate expert at Influence Map. This includes portraying themselves to the public as part of a solution to climate change, rather than a cause, and highlighting their investments in clean energy while funneling f ar more money into dirtier fuels. “Advertising becomes really important [because it] socializes these concepts before you even reach the policymakers.”

From October 31 to November 12, the COP26 conference will be held in Glasgow. The event aims to promote international efforts to meet the Paris Agreement’s and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s goals. The countries are expected to reach agreements during the summit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and attain carbon neutrality.

_____________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent