4th November, for immediate release: 145 civil society organisations, including Friends of the Earth, War on Want, Global Justice Now and Fuel Poverty Action, have written to Ed Miliband urging him to tackle the “dangerous” influence of the fossil fuel industry over climate policy by leaving lobbyists out of the UK’s delegation to the year’s most important climate summit, COP29.
The letter is part of a pushback from campaign groups across Europe against the growing dominance of the fossil fuel industry over the UN climate conferences. A record-breaking 2400 fossil fuel lobbyists attended last year’s conference, COP28, outnumbering the combined delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations.
The influence of the fossil fuel industry within climate and energy policy making is “dangerous,” the letter argues, given that the vast majority of the fossil fuel industry is “clearly committed to maximising the profits to be made from fossil fuels regardless of the impact on our climate”. This was evident in the outcome of COP28, which was described by experts as a “step backwards” that ultimately favoured the interests of the fossil fuel industry, with loopholes that prolong fossil fuel use.
The UK brought 20 fossil fuel lobbyists to COP28 [see endnotes]. As part of the national delegation, these lobbyists had access to negotiating rooms and government-only spaces, where they met policy makers without any public or press scrutiny. Of the 20 lobbyists, 18 were representatives of two companies – SSE and National Grid – which were principal sponsors of COP26, hosted by the UK in 2021. SSE is the owner of the Peterhead power station, Scotland’s biggest single source of pollution for the past five years. The energy giant is currently pushing to develop a second gas power station at Peterhead, in partnership with Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor. New research has just revealed that the projected emissions for this proposed power station could be three to fives higher than what SSE and Equinor have claimed. National Grid operates Europe’s largest Liquefied Natural Gas terminal and multiple gas-fired power plants in the US.
The letter was sent to Miliband’s office earlier today by Fossil Free Parliament – a campaign launched last year to call for restrictions on the fossil fuel industry’s influence over Westminster – on behalf of the 145 signatories.
Blyth Brentall, Campaign Coordinator at Coal Action Network, said:
“Nearly three decades of COP and what have we seen? Emissions have risen higher than in the entire history of humanity before that. While power holders dithered, communities have toiled away their time, energy and money to fight coal companies in the UK. At last we’ve won a victory against British coal – but that was thanks to community-led protest – not thanks to those in power. Once fossil fuel companies are out of COP, maybe climate action on a global scale might stand a chance.”
Carys Boughton, campaigner with Fossil Free Parliament, said:
“We don’t let the tobacco industry influence public health policy, so why are we still letting the fossil fuel industry influence climate policy? Fossil fuel companies are much more concerned with protecting their profits than they ever will be about reducing their emissions. We need world leaders to recognise that allowing the fossil fuel industry to influence climate policy is condemning us to climate breakdown. If we are to have any chance of keeping global heating below 1.5 degrees, fossil fuel lobbyists must be kicked out of COP.”
Fran Boait, Co-Executive Director at research and campaign group Positive Money, said: “For too long fossil fuel lobbyists have used the vast money and resources at their disposal to influence the very policies meant to keep them in check. It’s the reason we’ve reached our current state of crisis, with climate disasters causing more deaths, displacement, and deprivation every passing day. In our democratic system, leaders and public officials shouldn’t listen to certain groups based on the depth of their pockets, but work in the public interest by restricting the influence lobbyists have over the very policies meant to be cleaning up the chaos they’ve created.”
Nuri Syed Corser, Senior Economic Justice Campaigner at War on Want, said:
“At these crucial climate talks, the debate must be led by Global South countries, Indigenous groups, and trade unions, not lobbyists for Big Oil. We need to phase out fossil fuels, invest in a just transition for workers in high-carbon industries, and agree trillions of dollars in climate finance to enable Global South countries to tackle the climate crisis. We cannot allow polluters like Shell and BP to sabotage the talks in a bid to protect their own profits.”
Dr Andrew Boswell, who is taking the UK Government to court on the upstream methane emissions from a planned new gas power station with carbon capture at Net Zero Teesside, said: “Fossil fuel lobbying at COPs is deeply concerning with lobbyists for carbon capture forming around a fifth of all fossil fuel lobbyists at COP28. Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband spent days at COP28, and now the new UK government has promised £22bn for carbon capture, mainly for new fossil fuel based infrastructure including blue hydrogen. This is a disgraceful public subsidy towards the continuing use of fossil fuels in the UK which plays right into the hands of the lobbyists. Ed Miliband knows new carbon capture plants increase overall emissions when upstream emissions, including methane, are properly accounted. He must drop UK plans for this false climate ‘solution’, and break his links with industry lobbyists, whether at COPs or in Whitehall.”
Notes to editor
- You can read the letter, with the full list of signatories, here
- The list of people who attended COP28 as part of the UK’s official delegation and the “party overflow” is available from the UNFCCC here. The original research into the UK’s delegation was conducted by the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, who led the research into the total number of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP.
- To learn more about Fossil Free Parliament, see here
- The Europe-wide letter campaign was coordinated by the Fossil Free Politics coalition
Enquiries
Carys Boughton – Fossil Free Campaigner, Platform London