Fossil fuel lobby larger than African delegations at ‘Africa COP’

Dressed in jackets and ties, three executives line up to observe the golden frame of sponsorships in the Egypt pavilion, host country of COP27, the UN climate conference that takes place until the 18th in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

“We are thinking of sponsoring the COP next year”, one of them explains to the report and introduces himself. It is Gareth Wynn, head of communication at Taqa, the national gas company of the United Arab Emirates, host country for the next edition of the COP.

The group belongs to one of the great delegations of the COP: that of fossil fuels (such as oil, gas and coal). The industry has 636 representatives at this year’s conference. The number is 26% higher than at COP26 last year, when there were 503 lobbyists.

“There is an increase in the influence of the fossil fuel industry in the climate negotiations that are already fraught with accusations of censorship from civil society and corporate influence,” says a note from the organizations Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory and Global Witness, which jointly mapped industry presence at the conference.

The report sought out the UN Climate Change Convention to comment on the numbers, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

The analysis ran through the COP accredited list, checking both names directly affiliated with fossil fuel corporations — such as Shell, Chevron and BP — and members acting on behalf of the fossil fuel industry and accredited by national delegations.

The United Arab Emirates — which registered 1,070 delegates this year, compared with only 176 last year — has 70 names classified as fossil fuel lobbyists by the survey, which is still preliminary.

Another 28 countries bring industry lobbyists into their national delegations. Russia is the second largest house for fossil energy representatives, with 33 lobbyists in its delegation, the report notes.

Chaired by an African country, the conference is nicknamed “Africa’s COP” because of the expectation that the continent will be able to guide the most urgent agendas in the negotiations, such as climate adaptation, financing and reparations for losses and damages.

However, the fossil lobby brings a larger delegation to the COP than any African delegation, according to the analysis.

The three organizations that collected the data are part of a coalition that has asked the UN to bar the accreditation of fossil energy lobbyists.

“It’s time to kick out the big polluters. No more letting them write the rules or fund the climate negotiations,” says Phillip Jakpor, representative of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).

“Tobacco lobbyists would not be welcome at health conferences, arms dealers cannot promote their trade at peace conventions. Those who perpetuate the world’s addiction to fossil fuels should not be allowed to walk through the doors of a climate conference.” It’s time for governments to get out of the pockets of polluters”, he adds.

The analysis also assesses that, while allowing the presence of lobbyists whose interests are contrary to the purpose of the conference, COP27 made it impossible for activists, social and indigenous movements to participate, due to high logistical and accommodation costs, in addition to repressions by the dictatorial government. from Egypt to civil society demonstrations.

There are more registered fossil fuel lobbyists than representatives of the ten countries most impacted by climate change according to the GermanWatch ranking (Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Haiti, Philippines, Mozambique, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and Nepal), highlights the study.

The energy crisis in Europe resulting from the Ukrainian War brought even more strength to the sector, which gained political legitimacy to receive investments in the short and medium term, although it is the biggest global cause of climate change.

A good part of the national and sectorial targets for the Paris Agreement foresee net emissions to be zero by 2050 – that is, it will still be possible to emit, provided that with compensatory actions, such as the planting of trees, that sequester carbon dioxide back to earth.

The sector has been betting on gaps like this, in addition to palliatives such as less polluting technologies, to remain active. However, more and more science, political leaders and even the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, have argued that it is necessary to ban investments in fossils, forcing a definitive shift in the energy sector towards renewables.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}