Crack down on fossil fuel lobbyists at COP climate talks, global groups urge the United Nations
Canada's climate ambassador said on Tuesday it is "very important" that COP summits are "an inclusive process, that everybody has a voice". Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, has been increasingly critical of the fossil fuel industry.
Friday 27 January 2023 18:39, UK
Fossil fuel lobbyists should be kicked out of the negotiating rooms at the international COP climate talks, global groups have urged the United Nations.
In a letter to the UN and its climate arm, which convenes the annual COP summit, more than 450 global campaigning organisations said any oil representative should "not be allowed to unduly influence climate policymaking".
This allows them to "weaken and undermine the global response to climate change, and it's why we are on the brink of extinction," argue the signatories, which include Greenpeace, Oxfam, Tearfund and Friends of the Earth.
But the COP process is predicated on multilateralism and consensus, and industry and its many advocates argue they need a seat at the table so they can be a part of the solution.
A spokesperson for this year's conference, COP28 in Dubai, said: "We believe in an inclusive approach to addressing the climate issue".
News that 630 delegates with links to fossil fuel companies registered to attend COP27 in Egypt in November sparked backlash.
Rachel Rose Jackson, from the campaign to Kick Big Polluters Out, which co-convened the letter, said the presence of the delegates explains why COP27 "refused to even formally acknowledge the role that fossil fuels play in the climate crisis".
A battle to commit to phasing down all fossil fuels eventually fell by the wayside, "even though climate scenarios show there can be no fossil fuel expansion if we are to stay below critical thresholds", she said.
Campaigners have long demanded that the UN limits the access of fossil fuel executives to the inner negotiating rooms, where government representatives thrash out deals on the collective next steps towards combatting climate change.
But they escalated the demand after the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) appointed an oil company executive as president of this year's talks in Dubai.
As COP28 president, Sultan al-Jaber, who also runs state the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and is founding CEO of renewable energy company Masdar, is supposed to drive the direction of the negotiations, build consensus, and hold laggard governments to account.
Campaigners fear his appointment "threatens the legitimacy and efficacy" of the conference.
But the COP28 team said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber's experience "uniquely positions him to be able to convene both the public and private sector to bring pragmatic solutions to achieve the goals and aspirations of the Paris Climate Agreement".
On Tuesday Canada's climate ambassador said it is "very important" that COP summits are "an inclusive process, that everybody has a voice".
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair, who has worked for the UAE government, has backed Mr al-Jaber's appointment and the UAE's presidency.
"The UAE has shown leadership in climate investment and innovation. It is already one of the largest investors in renewables at home and abroad," he said earlier this month.
He added: "It has strong relationships with the Global North and South, East and West, and can be the honest broker needed to raise ambitions and seek real consensus."
End addiction to fossil fuels - UN chief
The campaigners still want oil and gas majors to be involved in the discussion, as these companies will have to transform if the world is to stop burning their products, but they should be limited to the fringes, they say.
They also want the UN's climate body, the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), to set up a conflict of interest and accountability process.
Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, has spoken increasingly critically of the fossil fuel industry, accusing it of spending more time on averting a PR disaster than a planetary one.
Responding to the appointment of Mr Al-Jaber earlier this month, Mr Guterres's spokesperson said the selection of the host COP and of the COP president is "a matter for Member States, in which the Secretary-General or the Secretariat of the UNFCCC have absolutely no involvement".
But they added that humanity is "losing the battle to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis," which can only be averted by "ending our addiction to fossil fuels".
The UNFCCC declined to respond.
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