Cop climate talks are a place for fossil fuel lobbyists to strike deals—moving the location of the talks won't spurn climate action
Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president, is hosting Cop 29 despite profiting from fossil fuels (Photo: Vugar Amrullaev)
By Judy Cox
Friday 15 November 2024
SOCIALIST WORKER Issue
The Cop climate summits are not fit for purpose, leading climate experts say. The experts have written to the United Nations demanding that future climate summits be held in countries that support action to reverse climate change.
“It is now clear that the Cop is no longer fit for purpose,” the letter states. “We need a shift from negotiation to implementation.”
Former UN climate chief Christina Figueres said, “We cannot hope to achieve a just transition without significant reforms to the Cop process to ensure fair representation of those most affected.”
The climate experts could have gone much further.
The Cop talks are not just attempts to greenwash unsustainable energy companies. They are not just hot air. The Cop talks have become a place where coal, oil, and gas companies can lobby governments. Cop talks make climate change worse.
The ongoing Cop 29 talks are being held in Azerbaijan, a major fossil fuel producer. Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev told the Cop gathering that his country’s oil and gas were a “gift from god”.
Some 1,773 lobbyists for these companies were granted access to Cop 29. The 10 most climate-vulnerable countries have just 1,033 delegates. “Industry presence is dwarfing that of those on the frontline of the climate crisis,” according to Sarah McArthur from the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition.
Major oil producers Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and Eni brought 39 lobbyists to Cop 29. They sell oil to Israel and are profiting from the genocide in Palestine.
Last year’s Cop 28 was held in the United Arab Emirates, a petrostate. The president of Cop 28, Sultan Al Jaber is the head of Emirates’ national oil company.
“The fossil fuel industry has long manipulated climate negotiations to protect its interests while the planet burns”, said Dawda Cham of the grassroots Africa Make Big Polluters Pay coalition.
The climate negotiations are providing a forum for the big polluters to strike new deals.
The British government illegally approved the Rosebank oilfield in September 2023. The government was legally required to assess the impact of opening the oil fields, which lie off the Shetland Islands.
The government was forced to admit in court that it considered the impact of extracting oil and gas from the site, but not the effect of actually burning of the fossil fuels.
Environment groups Greenpeace and Uplift took the government to court. They are now demanding that work on the oilfields is immediately halted while further environmental impact assessments are carried out.
Shell, Equinor and Ithaca Energy are demanding the right to exploiting the oil reserves. Their lawyer told the court that urgent action is needed to stop climate change, but denied new oilfields would contribute to climate change.
At a minimum, Ed Miliband, the environment secretary, should act now to close the oilfields and prevent further harm to the climate.
The Cop climate summits are not fit for purpose, leading climate experts say. The experts have written to the United Nations demanding that future climate summits be held in countries that support action to reverse climate change.
“It is now clear that the Cop is no longer fit for purpose,” the letter states. “We need a shift from negotiation to implementation.”
Former UN climate chief Christina Figueres said, “We cannot hope to achieve a just transition without significant reforms to the Cop process to ensure fair representation of those most affected.”
The climate experts could have gone much further.
The Cop talks are not just attempts to greenwash unsustainable energy companies. They are not just hot air. The Cop talks have become a place where coal, oil, and gas companies can lobby governments. Cop talks make climate change worse.
The ongoing Cop 29 talks are being held in Azerbaijan, a major fossil fuel producer. Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev told the Cop gathering that his country’s oil and gas were a “gift from god”.
Some 1,773 lobbyists for these companies were granted access to Cop 29. The 10 most climate-vulnerable countries have just 1,033 delegates. “Industry presence is dwarfing that of those on the frontline of the climate crisis,” according to Sarah McArthur from the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition.
Major oil producers Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and Eni brought 39 lobbyists to Cop 29. They sell oil to Israel and are profiting from the genocide in Palestine.
Last year’s Cop 28 was held in the United Arab Emirates, a petrostate. The president of Cop 28, Sultan Al Jaber is the head of Emirates’ national oil company.
“The fossil fuel industry has long manipulated climate negotiations to protect its interests while the planet burns”, said Dawda Cham of the grassroots Africa Make Big Polluters Pay coalition.
The climate negotiations are providing a forum for the big polluters to strike new deals.
The British government illegally approved the Rosebank oilfield in September 2023. The government was legally required to assess the impact of opening the oil fields, which lie off the Shetland Islands.
The government was forced to admit in court that it considered the impact of extracting oil and gas from the site, but not the effect of actually burning of the fossil fuels.
Environment groups Greenpeace and Uplift took the government to court. They are now demanding that work on the oilfields is immediately halted while further environmental impact assessments are carried out.
Shell, Equinor and Ithaca Energy are demanding the right to exploiting the oil reserves. Their lawyer told the court that urgent action is needed to stop climate change, but denied new oilfields would contribute to climate change.
At a minimum, Ed Miliband, the environment secretary, should act now to close the oilfields and prevent further harm to the climate.
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