Cop28, 2,500 fossil fuel lobbyists at Dubai
Environment — di Redazione
The fossil fuel lobbyists' delegation is the third largest present at Cop28 in Dubai. And it has one single objective: to derail the negotiations.
Cop28, 2,500 fossil fuel lobbyists at Dubai
The fossil fuel lobbyists' delegation is the third largest present at Cop28 in Dubai. And it has one single objective: to derail the negotiations.
The third most represented "nation" at the twenty-eighth United Nations world climate conference, Cop28, currently in full swing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates… is not a nation at all. The remarkable on-the-ground presence is in fact guaranteed by the fossil fuel industry, which has turned up at the summit with no fewer than 2,456 lobbyists.
🚨BREAKING: Explosion in the number of fossil fuel lobbyists granted access to #COP28. A RECORD 2456 - finds new analysis from #KickBigPollutersOut coalition.
Inaction is costing millions of people their homes, livelihoods, and lives #PollutersOut NOW!
gwitness.org/3Gv6Bxi
Inaction is costing millions of people their homes, livelihoods, and lives #PollutersOut NOW!
gwitness.org/3Gv6Bxi
The figures provided by the NGO coalition Kick big polluters out
This is no minor issue, from the perspective of a conference that is supposed to lay the groundwork for serious climate action capable of giving concrete effect to the Paris Agreement of 2015. Those who have travelled to Dubai on behalf of companies that exploit coal, oil and gas have done so with the aim of preventing the final decision of Cop28 from including overly stringent rules. The goal of this army of lobbyists, in short, is to attempt to slow down the decarbonisation process — precisely the opposite of what we need.
The data on the fossil fuel industry's presence at the world climate conference were provided by a coalition of 450 non-governmental organisations, Kick big polluters out, whose members include, among others, Global Witness, Greenpeace, ActionAid and Transparency International. Nearly 2,500 people, then — a number exceeded only by the Emirati delegation, which, as the host nation, can count on 4,500 representatives (plus 4,900 invited guests), and by that of Brazil.
The number of fossil fuel lobbyists has quadrupled compared to Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh
The South American nation has on several occasions fielded a particularly large number of delegates at previous editions. This time it was especially motivated, given that in 2025 it will host Cop30, which is due to take place in Belém, on the doorstep of the Amazon rainforest.
A record number of fossil fuel lobbyists attending COP28 are undermining climate talks. Fossil fuel lobbyists must be resisted, now and at future meetings. A fast, fair, full and funded phase out of all fossil fuels must be a priority at COP28.
Representatives of the fossil fuel industry were, however, equally numerous at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh (636), as well as at Cop26 in Glasgow (503). This time the figure has therefore quadrupled, outpacing even the overall increase in the number of people accredited to the event (which this year reached a record of over 80,000).