Coming en masse to Azerbaijan, the spokespersons of the fossil fuel industry are trying to influence the agenda of the negotiations at the UN climate summit. These VRPs are more numerous than the delegates of the ten nations most vulnerable to warming.
The figure is not a record but it is among the leaders. Some 1,800 fossil fuel lobbyists traveled to weigh in on the climate negotiations at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. While the UN summit is being held in an oil-producing country again this year, the coalition of environmental defense NGOs Kick Big Polluters Out notes that these oil and gas sales representatives have received more passes for the climate summit than all the delegates from the ten nations most vulnerable to global warming combined, a little over 1,000 people. “Which highlights how the presence of industry eclipses that of those on the front lines of the climate crisis”point out the associations.
“Like a venomous snake around the future of our planet”
This Friday, November 15, the 53,000 participants in COP29 were greeted by a giant snake of fire and flames brandished by demonstrators calling for the exclusion of major polluters. “The grip of the fossil fuel lobby on climate negotiations is like a poisonous snake coiling around the very future of our planetimaged Nnimmo Bassey, member of the Mother Earth Health Foundation. We must take decisive action to remove their influence and make them pay for their crimes against our planet.”
Every year, this unwanted presence causes controversy, with associations denouncing “arsonists” that we would invite to put out the fire or arms dealers invited to peace talks. In 2023, during COP28 in Dubai, there were more than 2,400 interest representatives while there were “only” 600 in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022 and 500 in Glasgow in 2021. “It is unfortunate that the fossil fuel sector and petro-states have taken control of the CO process to a level that is not healthy”judged former American vice-president Al Gore, who did not fail to point out the greenhouse gas emissions of Azerbaijan, one of the cradles of modern oil extraction.
According to the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber “the delegation of almost every country”except for those of Azerbaijan (2,229 people), Brazil (1,914), future host country of COP30, and Turkey (1,862). Among the national delegations, Japan brought the coal giant Sumitomo and Canada the oil producers Suncor and Tourmaline. Together, Western majors Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and Eni have brought together “39 lobbyists”. Since COP28, new UN rules have made it easier to track their presence, with participants having to declare information about their employer and their financial relationships with the entity requesting their accreditation.
NGOs included in their count people linked to companies whose main activity is not fossil fuels, such as EDF or the Danish renewables champion Orsted. Enough to somewhat put into perspective the exact number of people affiliated with hydrocarbons present in Baku. According to Mediapart, these are “at least 196 direct representatives of global giants” of these fuels which were accredited for the summit. Conversely, “other polluting industries deeply implicated in the climate crisis, such as finance, agribusiness and transportation, are also present,” but were not taken into account in the NGO analysis.
“Yes, we are part of the problem”
On the French side, the CEO of the major TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, was keen to make the trip, like many other bosses and consultants in the world of fossils. They all present themselves as essential partners in the energy transition, although Total clearly states that it wants to do so. “grow [sa] oil and gas production”by 2030.
Coming to spend the day at COP29, Patrick Pouyanné therefore defended the actions of his company and the sector on Friday November 15. “Yes, we are part of the problem” climatic, but “we are in a logic of continuous progress”even “if we never go fast enough” in the eyes of society, he said during an exchange on the Azerbaijan pavilion with Rovshan Najaf, the president of the national oil company Socar, and Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, a American NGO. The French CEO described «signal important» the agreement reached last year at COP28 in Dubai, which recognized that the world must lead a «transition» away from fossil fuels. But “we must not believe that in six months, a year, all this will stop”he said, recalling that European demand for gas has recently increased. “I know the emergency is there, I am aware of it”he admitted, arguing that all this takes “a little time”.
Related News :