New record for COP28. Nearly 2,500 fossil fuel lobbyists obtained accreditation for the UN climate conference in the United Arab Emirates, which made no secret of having invited them, according to a coalition of NGOs on Tuesday.
This figure is all the less of a surprise since the COP planned to welcome a record number of participants (more than 88,000 without counting the 20,000 technical and organizational staff) and that, for the first time, participants were expected to inform their employer and the relationship, financial or otherwise, with the entity requesting accreditation on their behalf.
The CEO of TotalEnergies accredited
The Kick Big Polluters Out coalition (KBPO, 450 NGOs including Global Witness, Greenpeace, ActionAid and Transparency International) estimates that the number of 2,456 fossil lobbyists listed in the provisional list of participants published by the UN is probably underestimated since its analysis is based solely on public data.
Only the delegations from Brazil (more than 3,000 people) and the Emirates (nearly 4,500 without counting their 4,900 guests) are larger than the fossil fuel lobbyists, who outnumber the delegations from the ten countries “most vulnerable to climate change”. » (1,509 people) and representatives of indigenous populations (316).
The role of fossil fuels at the heart of the standoff
France accredited Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies, Italy took executives from Eni and the European Union brought employees from BP, Eni and ExxonMobil, according to KPPO. Professional organizations with observer status at the COP also brought their contingent of employees from Shell, TotalEnergies and Equinor.
The “line by line” analysis of NGOs does not take into account lobbyists from other polluting sectors but counts “any individual who can reasonably aim to influence” COP28 “in the interest of fossil companies and their shareholders” like a lobbyist. The role of oil, gas and coal is at the heart of the standoff at this COP28.