According to analysis provided to the BBC, there are now 25% more fossil fuel-related participants at the UN climate summit than there were at the previous gathering.
More than 600 attendees at the discussions in Egypt, according to the advocacy group Global Witness, had ties to fossil fuels.
That number exceeds the combined delegations from the ten nations with the greatest climate change impacts.
In the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the COP27 summit is anticipated to draw over 35,000 attendees.
The coal, oil, and gas industries have consistently sent a sizable contingent to these gatherings, eager to steer the conversation.
This year that figure has gone up to 636.
“COP27 looks like a fossil fuel industry trade show,” said Rachel Rose Jackson, from Corporate Accountability, one of a group of campaigners who released the data.
“We’re on a carousel of madness here rather than climate action. The fossil fuel industry, their agenda, it’s deadly. Their motivation is profit and greed. They’re not serious about climate action. They never have been and they never will.”
The researchers counted the number of individuals registered who were either directly affiliated with fossil fuel companies or attending as members of national delegations that act on behalf of the fossil fuel industry.
The data shows that this year, there are more fossil fuel lobbyists than total delegates from the ten countries most impacted by climate change, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Mozambique.
The biggest single delegation at COP27 is from the United Arab Emirates, who will host COP28 next year.
They have 1,070 people on the ground here, up from just 170 last year.
The analysis found that 70 of that delegation were connected to fossil fuel extraction.
Russia’s delegation has 33 lobbyists for oil and gas in their delegation of 150.
Leave a Reply