The world of energy converges on Friday at COP29 in Baku, where NGOs denounce the mass presence and influence of fossil fuel lobbyists on the UN negotiations, organized again this year in a major oil-producing country .
The CEO of the French major TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, will be one of the figures of the oil and gas world in Baku on Friday, with many other bosses, energy ministers and consultants from around the world.
Like last year, a coalition of NGOs tried to count how many fossil fuel lobbyists had been accredited at COP29. They estimate the number at 1,773, according to this coalition called Kick Big Polluters Out (“Kick Big Polluters”, KBPO), which brings together 450 NGOs.
In Baku, thousands of participants arriving at COP29 were greeted Friday morning by a giant snake meant to represent fossil interests at the conference.
“We demand an end to energy colonialism in the South”Bhebhe, from the NGO Power Shift Africa, told AFP, among the demonstrators.
BP, ExxonMobil
Some 53,000 people are accredited this year (excluding technical staff and organizers), according to the UN.
According to NGOs, fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber “the delegation of almost every country”apart from those of Azerbaijan (2,229), Brazil (1,914), host country of COP30, and Turkey (1,862).
But the exact figure could be different, because the authors of the report told AFP that they had included in their account people linked to companies whose main activity is not fossil fuels, such as EDF or the Danish champion of Orsted renewables.
Whatever the exact number, the presence of oil, gas and coal interests at COPs has long been a source of controversy. The appointment of Sultan Al Jaber, head of the United Arab Emirates oil company, as president of COP28 last year in Dubai sparked strong criticism.
Even if in the end, this COP resulted in the first call to initiate the exit from fossil fuels. According to the coalition of NGOs, a record number of people linked to interests in the fossil sector had participated.
This year, COP29 is being held in Azerbaijan, a country sitting on hydrocarbon reserves, a resource described by President Ilham Aliyev as “gift from God”.
The president of the conference, Mukhtar Babaev, is a former executive of the national oil company, Socar.
COP participants are usually affiliated with a government or registered organization.
New UN rules make it easier for observers to scrutinize the presence of lobbyists, with participants having since COP28 to declare information about their employer and their relationships, financial or otherwise, with the entity seeking accreditation for them.
Among the national delegations, Japan brought the coal giant Sumitomo and Canada the oil producers Suncor and Tourmaline.
Together, the Western majors Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and Eni, have brought together a total of “39 lobbyists”.
