Fossil Fuel Industry Flexes Its Muscle at COP29 with Lobbying, Greenwashing

BAKU, Azerbaijan-According to a new analysis by the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition, at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists have been granted access to this year's U.N. climate negotiations (COP29), which outnumbers nearly every national delegation attending the talks in Azerbaijan. This is a major presence for the industry primarily responsible for driving destructive and deadly climate change and more than all the delegates from the 10 most climate vulnerable countries combined (1,033 people badged). ExxonMobil Chair and CEO Darren Woods is among 12 representatives of the largest U.S.-based oil and gas corporation registered to participate in person. By comparison, Guyana-a country vulnerable to flooding, droughts, sea level rise and other climate impacts that is suing ExxonMobil over its offshore oil extraction projects-also has 12 representatives on the provisional list of COP29 participants.

Below is a statement by Kathy Mulvey, the accountability campaign director for the Climate and Energy Program at UCS. She has watchdogged industry presence at the U.N.'s international talks related to health and climate change for more than 20 years. Mulvey is currently in attendance at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

"The massive fossil fuel industry presence at COP29 illustrates what's at stake: what oil and gas corporations think they have to lose and how they may be trying to cash in. While they continue lobbying to delay the phaseout of fossil fuels, they're simultaneously trying to co-opt the clean energy transition by demanding subsidies from governments for technologies that aren't likely to play a material role in meeting 2030 climate targets. Countries must resist any attempt by the fossil fuel industry to swindle funding that should rightly be put toward climate finance desperately needed by Global South nations.

"Fossil fuel corporations and their surrogates shouldn't have a seat at the negotiating table where climate policy is being made-allowing them that access is like setting the cat loose among the pigeons. As climate impacts grow more severe, the world can't waste any more time in phasing out fossil fuels and funding a fast, equitable transition to clean energy. Corporations such as ExxonMobil, which have engaged in a decades-long campaign to deceive the public and policymakers and block or delay climate action, have repeatedly shown that they can't be trusted as good-faith players in climate policymaking."

Corporate greenwashing is also glaringly prevalent at the COP29 venue. In the exhibition hall, booths proclaim that "oil touches our daily lives in different ways," promote natural gas as "the cleanest of hydrocarbons," and display cartoons touting the deployment of problematic technologies over proven climate solutions. Events in the business pavilion have been sponsored by oil and gas corporations including Chevron, ExxonMobil, SOCAR and TotalEnergies. And the COP29 Presidency hired Teneo-a PR firm with close ties to the oil and gas industry-to enhance its image ahead of the talks. The Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter-a voluntary initiative launched at COP28 by oil and gas corporations and condemned by hundreds of civil society organizations as a greenwashing ploy-has predictably resurfaced at COP29 after minimal visibility or progress over the past year.

If you would like to speak to Mulvey or another UCS expert, please contact Climate and Energy Media Manager Ashley Siefert Nunes, who is also on the ground in Azerbaijan, at [email protected] or +1 952-239-0199.

Additional Resources:

• A previous statement by UCS on the repercussions of a Trump presidency on global climate action.
• A media alert listing the UCS delegation attending COP29 and the issues they can discuss.
• The latest blogposts by UCS experts on COP29 and the implications of the U.S. presidential election.