It is not only environmental groups and delegates who are present at the UN climate summit COP29 in Azerbaijani Baku. At least 1,700 lobbyists have ties to oil, coal, and gas interests, according to a review by "Kick the big polluters out", a coalition of various non-governmental organizations.
It is unfortunate that the fossil fuel industry and oil states have taken control of COP in an unhealthy way, says former US Vice President and climate activist Al Gore, according to AFP.
The aid organization Oxfam's climate policy chief Nafkote Dabi states that the fossil lobby is larger than all but three countries' delegations, a clear reminder of "the industry's grip on climate policy".
"Giving more space to those who make money from and are directly responsible for this crisis – instead of giving more space to those who are directly affected – sends the wrong message to the world about climate cooperation and what needs to be done to get the world on a safer path", she writes.
Oil Giant: Can Contribute
The question is particularly relevant since the climate meeting itself is taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, where participants witness a literal smell of oil over the capital. Some lobbyists represent companies with interests also on the fossil-free side, and the number is significantly fewer than the 2,400 who participated in the meeting in Dubai.
American petroleum giant Exxon's CEO Darren Woods is one of the participants in Baku.
I'm here to talk to a number of people and share Exxon's view on how we can contribute to the challenge we're all discussing these weeks, he says to Bloomberg's Zero podcast.
He thinks the US should stay in the Paris Agreement, and that President Joe Biden's massive environmental program IRA "is sensible". He says that oil demand is record-high, and that alternatives – solar and wind – are not sufficient.
We need more solutions, honestly, as a company, we can put forward those solutions, he says.
Not Fulfilling Purpose
A group of leading climate activists and researchers, including former UN top Ban Ki-Moon and Swedish researcher Johan Rockström, write in an [open letter](Global climate leaders call for urgent overhaul of UN climate process ) that the UN climate process needs to be reformed into smaller meetings held more frequently.
"It is clear that COP no longer fulfills its purpose", they write in the letter and continue: "We need a shift from negotiations to implementations"
