New Delhi: Are we really serious to tackle the issue of climate change? The question comes into our mind when we heard that fossil fuel lobbyists got access to the world’s largest climate conference, COP27.
And it was more astonishing to know that this time the number is more than the previous conference COP26 at Glasglow.
According to an analysis from Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory, and Global Witness analysis found that this year’s climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, that number has increased by more than 25 percent.
This means there are at least 636 fossil fuel lobbyists registered at COP27, more than the combined delegations of the 10 countries most impacted by the climate crisis.
Last year’s analysis showed that at least 503 fossil fuel lobbyists flooded the Glasgow talks. The findings renewed calls to ban fossil fuel representatives from attending climate talks.
“If you want to address malaria, you don’t invite the mosquitoes,” Phillip Jakpor of Public Participation Africa said. “As long as we have the fossil fuel lobby and machinery in full swing, we will not make progress and we have not made progress.”
The analysis counted which of the more than 30,000 COP27 delegates either had ties to a company that did a substantial amount of business in fossil fuels or were present as part of a trade group representing fossil fuel interests. These included major oil and gas companies like Chevron, Shell, and BP.
The number of fossil fuel representatives that were uncovered by the analysis was greater than any single country’s delegation except the UAE, which has 1,070 members.
However, 70 of those members are also fossil fuel lobbyists. Including the UEA, 29 countries had fossil fuel lobbyists as part of their delegation.
Russia had the next highest amount at 33. Canada’s delegation included three representatives from Enbridge, an energy company building a controversial pipeline between the U.S. and Canada known as Line 3 which is opposed by Indigenous communities.
The fossil fuel lobby was much larger than that of frontline communities. In addition to outnumbering the delegation of the 10 most impacted countries, it also outnumbered the delegation of any one African country and the total Indigenous delegation, Kick Big Polluters Out noted.
More than 450 organizations have backed the call to Kick Big Polluters Out, arguing that fossil fuel interests should be restricted at climate meetings in the same way that tobacco lobbyists are prevented from contributing to public health policy, Global Witness said.
