How Does the Fossil Fuel Sector Account for the Largest Representation at COP26?

Campaigners headed by Global Witness, a human rights organization, evaluated the UN’s participation list, which was made public at the outset of the summit. They discovered that 503 representatives had ties to the fossil fuel industry who were granted accreditation for the climate conference. These delegates are reported to lobby for the petroleum & oil sectors, and protesters believe they should be barred from attending. “The fossil fuel sector has spent years rejecting and postponing serious action around the climate crisis, which is why this is such a significant concern,” Global Witness Murray Worthy warns. “Their involvement is one of the primary reasons that 25 years of UN climate discussions have failed to result in meaningful reductions in global emissions.”

The COP was attended by around 40,000 individuals. The United Kingdom, which is holding the conference in Glasgow, has 230 registered delegates. A fossil fuel lobbyist is defined by Global Witness, Corporate Accountability, and others who analyzed somebody, as a representative of a trade organization, delegation, or a body that promotes the objectives of petroleum & energy firms. At the summit, they recognized 503 individuals who were employed by or linked to these organizations. They also discovered that advocates for fossil fuels are members of 2 country delegations, Canada as well as Russia. The fossil fuel lobby at the COP is greater than the 8 delegations from the nations most affected by global warming over the last 2 decades combined.

At the COP, around 100 fossil fuel firms were present, as 30 trade groups and membership organizations. By a factor of two, fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber the UNFCCC’s recognized indigenous group, the LCIPP. The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) was one of the largest organizations they discovered, with 103 representatives in attendance, including 3 from the petroleum & energy major British Petroleum. As per Global Witness, the IETA is supported by several big oil firms that encourage offsetting as well as carbon trading as a means of continuing to produce petroleum and gasoline. “This is an organization with a large number of oil & coal businesses as members.”

Its purpose is controlled by fossil fuel firms and supports the interests of fossil fuel corporations,” according to Mr. Worthy. “What we are witnessing is the promotion of phony solutions that look to be climate movement but maintain the status quo, preventing us from adopting clear, easy steps to keep fossil fuels underground that we understand are the true solutions to the climate issue.” According to the IETA, it exists to determine the most effective market-based ways of reducing emissions. Members include fossil fuel firms, as well as a variety of other organizations. “We have legal firms, project developers, and the people who deploy cleaner energy on the ground all across the world.

“We’re not coming to a halt today and tomorrow, and there will be no emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels.” “There is a transition process going on, and carbon markets are the best way to ensure that transition occurs.” Campaigners say that the World Health Organization did not take tobacco prohibition seriously until all business representatives were barred from attending WHO conferences. They want petroleum & energy corporations to be treated the same way at the COP. “Despite publicly admitting to increasing their production of fossil gas, companies such as Shell and BP are involved in these negotiations,” stated Pascoe Sabido of the Corporate Europe Observatory.