Originally posted by Fossil Free Politics.
While European Commissioner Hoekstra kept his word and didn’t bring any big emitters into COP30 in Belém, EU Member States brought more than 80 fossil fuel lobbyists into the UN talks.
According to new research by Fossil Free Politics in collaboration with the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, nine EU governments brought 84 fossil fuel lobbyists into COP30 on their official government delegations. This contributed to the overall figure of 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30, one in every 25 participants.
This year’s negotiations in Brazil marks ten years since the signing of the Paris Agreement, where countries committed to keeping global temperature rise below 1.5°C. Yet France and Italy, consistent in their support for polluting industries, rolled out the red carpet yet again for the very forces driving global heating.
Key findings include:
- Largest EU fossil fuel delegations: France, Sweden and Italy had the largest delegations among EU Member States, with 22, 18 and 12 lobbyists respectively.
- France’s high-profile industry presence: The country included five TotalEnergies lobbyists, including CEO Patrick Pouyanné, alongside substantial delegations from EDF and Engie.
- Sweden’s energy giants: Sweden’s delegation featured lobbyists from Siemens Energy, E.ON SE and Hitachi Energy.
- Italy’s fossil fuel links: Italy’s delegation included lobbyists fromConfindustria and Edison, the latter of which is involved in LNG imports from the US.The country also brought an advisor from Snam, Europe’s largest gas transmission operator, who was hidden within the Venice Sustainability Foundation’s delegation.
- Other EU delegations: Denmark brought 11 lobbyists, while Belgium and Portugal brought 8 each.
“France, Italy, and Sweden flood COP30 with fossil fuel lobbyists, undermining the EU’s credibility as a self-declared climate leader, which was already being doubted when it arrived with flimsy 2040 climate targets” said Kim Claes, Corporate Capture Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe. “This risks turning the UN talks into a platform for greenwashing instead of a venue to limit global warming to 1.5°C. We urgently need a firewall around UN and EU climate decision-making to keep vested interests like TotalEnergies and other polluters out.”
Positively, following sustained pressure on Climate Commissioner Hoekstra, the European Commission hasn’t included any fossil fuel lobbyists in its delegation — for the second year in a row. Thanks to the sustained work of national Fossil Free Politics groups, Germany and Austria had already committed ahead of COP not to bring fossil fuel lobbyists to the talks.
“It is a strong signal from the European Commission to not bring fossil fuel lobbyists to COP for the second year in a row.” said Claes. “Now it’s time to enshrine this approach in EU policy and ensure that national delegations at COP follow suit.”
“Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists in UN negotiation spaces where they don’t belong is still growing. More than ever, they are promoting “solutions” that are good for their business but not for the people and climate. CCS, hydrogen, biogas should be labelled as greenwashing for the expansion of oil and gas extraction still happening, and fossil fuel corporations should pay for the global impact of their business.” concluded Elena Gerebizza, ReCommon energy and infrastructure campaigner.
For a full list of EU and member state delegates, email: kim.claes[at]foeeurope.org
For more information, please contact:
- Kim Claes, Corporate Capture campaigner, kim.claes[at]foeeurope.org, +32 483 16 45 02
- Pascoe Sabido, Researcher & campaigner, pascoe[at]corporateeurope.org,+44 7969665189
- Gabor Ott, Communications officer, media[at]foeeurope.org, +32 489 333 517
Notes to the editor:
- In response to an open letter from Fossil Free Politics calling on the EU to protect the UN climate talks from fossil fuel industry influence and to not bring any fossil fuel lobbyists to COP30, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra stated that the EU would only bring officials. The only delegates on the EU delegation not from an EU institution or its advisors were three journalists and film makers.
- Kick Big Polluters Out identified more than 1600 fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30, marking yet another year of overwhelming industry presence at crucial climate negotiations.
- The analysis has defined a fossil fuel lobbyist as any individual delegate that represents an organisation or is a member of a delegation that can be reasonably assumed to have the objective of influencing the formulation or implementation of policy or legislation in the interests of the fossil fuel industry, or a particular fossil fuel company and its shareholders.
- The EU governments that brought fossil fuel lobbyists into COP30 are: France (22), Sweden (18), Italy (12), Denmark (11), Portugal (8), Belgium (8), Finland (2), The Netherlands (2) and Greece (1).
- Kick Big Polluters Out is a coalition of more than 450 organisations across the globe, including Fossil Free Politics, united in demanding an end to the ability of Big Polluters to write the rules of climate action.
- The Fossil Free Politics campaign was launched with the support of over 200 civil society organisations, and is calling for an official limit to the power of fossil fuel lobbyists in Europe that mirrors what’s in place for the tobacco industry. Friends of the Earth Europe, Corporate Europe Observatory and Food and Water Europe are coordinating this campaign. More info: fossilfreepolitics.org
