by At least 1,300 employees of organizations representing fossil fuel interests have registered to attend this year’s United Nations climate talks in Dubai, more than three times the number found in an Associated Press analysis of last year’s talks, according to as new rules came into force requiring attendees to disclose their employment. .
Apart from the new disclosure rules, this figure may have been boosted by a rise in attendance as the Earth languishes through a year of record heat and horrendously destructive weather due to climate change — registrations are conference almost twice as many as last year’s talks. The United Nations body responsible for running the conference released data on far more attendees than in recent years, including people who are not considered part of official state delegations.
The hundreds of people linked to fossil fuel are only a small share of the 90,000 people who have registered to attend the climate summit known as COP28. But environmentalists have repeatedly questioned their presence at an event where meaningful negotiations must be the central aim of their business.
Bob Deans, director of strategic engagement for the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council, said his group expects this year’s talks to be the point where oil and gas “could shift most of the climate problem.” until its termination. of the settlement.”
“The industry needs to retreat from a business model that depends on destroying the planet,” said Deans, whose own group signed up nearly two dozen people to attend. “That business model needs to change. Dubai has to be the starting point.”
The companies represented by the more than 1,300 employees make up a large part of global emissions – which is why they should also have a place at the conference, they said.
COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber faced criticism in the months leading up to his role in leading COP28 because of his other job — heading the national oil company of the United Arab Emirates. Al-Jaber addressed the question of the appropriate role for fossil fuel companies in his opening remarks.
“History shows that this is the Presidency that made a bold choice to proactively engage with oil and gas companies,” al-Jaber said. He praised many of those companies for their commitments to reduce emissions, but added: “I have to say, it’s not enough, and I know they can do more.”
On Saturday, al-Jaber announced that 50 oil companies representing nearly half of global production had pledged to reach near-zero methane emissions and end routine flaring by 2030. Experts and environmentalists that it was significant and meaningful, but still not enough.
COP28 comes as the planet faces an increasing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Global warming reached 1.25 degrees Celsius in October compared to pre-industrial levels, according to the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. And the United Nations warned in a critical report in September that “the window of opportunity to secure a viable and sustainable future is fast closing.”
Fossil fuel companies have long had a hand in the talks, the first of which was in 1995. Research by the advocacy group Kick Big Polluters Out Coalition shows four of the “big five” oil and gas companies — Shell, Chevron, TotalEnergies and BP — they sent representatives to the annual climate talks almost every year.
The four companies said in statements that they attend COP in order to promote green or low-carbon technologies and work towards their net-zero commitments. Low carbon could include things like biofuels, hydrogen development and carbon capture and storage. All four have pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The AP arrived at its account for COP28 by analyzing the United Nations list of likely attendees to review details they offered when they registered, including the company they represented. That data was checked against lists of operators and owners of coal mines, oil fields and natural gas plants, as well as manufacturers of carbon-intensive materials such as steel and cement. It also included trade associations representing those interests.
TotalEnergies has signed up to send a dozen people to COP28, UN data shows. Paul Naveau, the company’s head of media relations, said that TotalEnergies will have six experts on climate, carbon markets and biodiversity at the talks, and its CEO Patrick Pouyanné is speaking at a side event.
“The topics discussed at these events are at the heart of the company’s ambition; our experts attend to listen to the debates and support collective action,” said Naveau.
Naveau said in response to AP questions that no TotalEnergies employees participate – or are not even present – in the negotiations between countries.
Naveau pointed to the company’s plans for a third of its capital spending through 2028 to go toward “low-carbon” energy. He added that the company is transparent about its attendees in Dubai “to kill the (false) idea that our company’s presence could be negative.”
Kick Big Polluters Out analysis, covering 20 years, showed that Shell sent the most people to the talks overall and most consistently. The company averaged six over the past 20 years, although that is likely an undercount since the UN did not ask attendees to list their “domestic organizations” before this year.
Shell’s international policy positions support phasing out coal, expanding renewables, and treating natural gas as a “partner” to renewable energy sources. Natural gas emits less carbon than most other fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency, but it still contributes to climate change. The IEA describes it as having a “limited role” in the transition from coal to renewables.
Kick Big Polluters Out research identified frequent attendees.
Arthur Lee, a 30-year employee of Chevron, has attended every COP since 1999, he said on his LinkedIn page, and is registered to attend COP28. He was a participant in the fourth IPCC assessment, the United Nations’ official climate report, as an expert on carbon capture and storage.
David Hone, Shell’s chief climate adviser, is in Dubai for at least his 17th appearance at the annual climate talks. Hone wrote in a blog post ahead of the talks that net-zero emissions goals will require a heavy emphasis “on the development of carbon removal practices and technologies.”
Neither Shell nor Chevon would make the two men available for interviews.
Fossil fuel companies rely heavily on carbon capture to meet their net-zero goals, even as some experts have expressed doubts about scaling it up sufficiently. Currently, it is preventing about 0.1% of the energy sector’s carbon emissions from reaching the atmosphere, according to the IEA.
Rachel Rose Jackson is the director of climate research and international policy at Corporate Accountability, a group in the coalition that produced the Kick Big Polluters Out analysis, that carbon capture and storage are unproven technologies at the scale that would be needed.
“It’s a huge diversion of resources, capacity and money that could be going to solutions that we know work, are cost-effective, reduce emissions and keep fossil fuels in the ground,” she said. . “So-called solutions are often dangerous distractions.”
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