Cop27: record number of fossil fuel lobbyists at climate conference

A new analysis by the groups Global Witness, Corporate Europe Observatory and Corporate Accountability has calculated that 636 fossil fuel lobbyists are registered to attend Cop27.

This is up more than 25% from last year, and the number is larger than any single national delegation except the United Arab Emirates, they report.

The UAE, who will host Cop28 next year, have an astonishing 1,070 delegates in attendance, up from 176 last year.

We’ll have a story shortly, but in the meantime you can read the Global Witness report here.

As news broke of the 600+ fossil fuel lobbyists at this year’s summit, climate justice activists from Asia, Africa, and the Americas protested in the main courtyard in the blue zone demanding that the UNFCCC kick polluters out from Cop.

“We are here representing millions of people who are demanding that the polluters be kicked out of the Cop space and policy making. For more than half a century they kept the truth about the harms from the people. They delayed action because of greed. You can let the criminals set the rules, we have to reset the system. We are calling them out,” said Aderonke Lge from Public Participation Africa.

Nishant Kumar Alag from India added: “We call them polluters and violators, but we’re talking about criminals. We demand the right to clean water, air and land, and no safe haven for the criminals.”

As the delegates rushed past, heads down en route to another long day in the main negotiating rooms and event spaces, the protesters sang: “All we are saying is kick polluters out.” Lots of people are wearing white today in solidarity with the thousands of land and environmental defenders killed and criminalised around the world, and with the tens and thousands of political prisoners here in Egypt and around the world.

Exuberant hotel and travel costs, visa delays and accreditation limits have made access to Cop27 incredibly challenging for activists and grassroots leaders including those from Africa – despite this being dubbed the African Cop.

Gina Cortes Valderrama from Colombia said lobbyists were everywhere while those on the frontline of the climate crisis cannot get access to Cop. “It’s a clear signal of what the colonial structures here value and prioritise.”

As US officials including John Kerry hold events at the climate justice pavilion – a space and term that activists say polluters and their allies are trying to co-opt, a host of protests and actions are planned in the blue zone.

cover photo: Protesters demonstrate in solidarity with political prisoners and embattled civil society at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters