Lobbying: Environmental associations criticize the influence of the oil lobby on climate summits

Antalya. According to a data analysis by climate activists, many major polluters are officially accredited at the climate conference in Turkey - this includes lobbyists and corporations from the oil, gas and coal industries as well as the agricultural industry and tech companies.

According to the “Kick Big Polluters Out” alliance, an analysis of UN data shows that representatives of 60 fossil fuel associations in Antalya were given access to the site of COP31, as the conference is called in UN jargon. There are also 16 major lenders and banks for oil, gas and coal.

The largest delegations include the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and BNP Paribas. The Federal Association of German Industry, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and BlackRock are also mentioned.

Lien Vandamme of the Center for International Environmental Law expressed outrage at the presence of these lobby groups. “Big polluters and their backers continue to crowd the corridors of the COP, working to protect their profits, block climate action and maintain business as usual,” she said. “You can’t put out a fire while handing matches to the arsonists.”

The lobby representatives therefore gained access in various ways. About 222 are delegates with so-called “party overflow” accreditations, and 203 came via non-governmental organizations. 45 were guests of the host country Türkiye and 31 were even members of the official negotiating delegation.

Vandamme concluded that what is needed is a system that stops sabotaging itself. “It is high time to reform the UN climate negotiations. And that includes excluding those who cause environmental pollution.”

The World Climate Conference in Antalya is likely to go down in history as one of the two largest with more than 96,000 registered participants. According to the UN Climate Secretariat, 50,000 delegates have so far collected their accreditation on site.

Depending on how it goes, Antalya could potentially surpass the largest climate conference to date in Dubai, which took place in the desert state in 2023 with 85,000 participants. The Turkish hosts like to talk about “around 100,000” participants.

How many will actually take part on site over the course of the two weeks will only be determined at the end, as country delegations can still accredit people until the end of the conference. However, Antalya is “certainly” likely to be at least the second-largest climate conference ever, said a spokesman for the UN Climate Secretariat.