Surge in fossil fuel lobbyists at COP27: watchdogs
Fossil fuel lobbyists have flooded UN climate talks in Egypt, a report by watchdog groups said on Thursday, even as calls grow at the summit for a windfall tax on oil majors' bumper profits. More than 600 lobbyists from some of the world's biggest polluters have registered to attend the climate talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, up 25 percent from last year, analysis by groups including Global Witness and Corporate Accountability found. That is more than the number of representatives from the 10 most climate-affected countries combined, they said. "There's been a lot of lip service paid to this being the so-called African COP, but how are you going to address the dire climate impacts on the continent when the fossil fuel delegation is larger than that of any African country?" said Philip Jakpor of Corporate Accountability. The groups scoured the official list of registered participants looking for those either directly affiliated with oil and gas companies, or people who are attending as part of delegations that "act on behalf of the fossil fuel industry". Last year at the UN climate meeting in Glasgow, they counted 503 fossil fuel lobbyists. The groups called on the United Nations to restrict access to the talks for fossil fuel firms, which the UN chief Antonio Guterres has said are "poisoning our planet". They added that there are more fossil fuel lobbyists than any single national delegation, except for the United Arab Emirates – the host of next year's talks – which has registered over a thousand delegates, 70 of whom are directly linked to fossil fuel interests. (AFP)