The same period also saw more than 70 revolving door cases: the hiring by companies of people who formerly held positions in the EU apparatus, international institutions, national governments and agencies and vice versa. And these talks did not come cheap: together, these companies spent over €170 million on their EU lobbying activities. Remarkably, this small club of companies, together with five of their lobby groups, managed to meet with top Commission officials a total of 568 times since 2015. Our new research looks at the use of these three tools by six fossil fuel giants - Shell, BP, Total, Equinor, ENI and Galp - in the period between Paris and Glasgow. The result is the widespread capture of decision-making processes and the mainstreaming of fossil fuel interests. Their threefold bag of lobbying tricks includes privileged access to decision makers, huge lobby spending and a revolving door with the public sector. There is less focus, however, on the mechanisms used by oil and gas companies to tie the hands of our political leaders.įor decades, fossil fuel companies have lobbied against effective climate action at the national, EU and international levels. It is well established that the fossil fuel industry is blocking any governmental action that would disrupt drilling and burning as usual. To understand why we’re still setting the planet on fire, despite a scientific consensus and a plethora of feasible solutions, we must investigate what is happening behind the scenes. As Greta Thunberg recently wrote, we are currently on track for a world that is at least 2.7☌ hotter by the end of the century - and that’s only if countries meet their current pledges. Yet seven years later we are failing dismally to reduce fossil fuel production. To reach the Paris goal of keeping warming below 1.5☌, almost 60% of oil and gas reserves and 90% of coal must remain in the ground. Let’s look back to 2015, when COP21 established the Paris Agreement commitments and provided a glimmer of hope. In a cruel twist, the same oil and gas companies that are most responsible plan to be in full attendance at the upcoming COP. government was recently urged by 1,500 civil society organisations to postpone the summit after it became apparent that most delegates from the Global South could not attend due to a combination of ‘vaccine apartheid’ and the U.K.’s stumbling COVID-19 response.īut it’s exactly these voices that must be heard, as people in developing countries are currently experiencing the most extreme impacts of the climate crisis. The summit is on track to become the least inclusive COP to date. Will COP26 bring about the necessary action? Current forecasts are gloomy. The urgent underlying message from civil society to world leaders remains the same: stop talking, start doing! The past weeks have been filled with attention-grabbing demonstrations, including a sit-in outside the Dutch parliament in The Hague and a harbour blockade of Shell’s refinery in Rotterdam. sanctions on Tehran.COP26 will kick off next Sunday 31 October, following a one-year delay due to the pandemic. officials travel to Caracas for the first time since 2019, and the Biden administration pushes to finalize negotiations on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement and lifting U.S. Meanwhile, the Biden administration considers smoothing rocky relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela in the hope that those countries will supply more oil. The United States and other members of the International Energy Agency announce plans to collectively release sixty million barrels of oil from strategic reserves. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle call for boosting domestic oil production, though some in Congress urge a quicker transition to renewable energy. In response to near-record gasoline prices, U.S. Oil prices, already rising in the wake of the pandemic, surge to their highest level since 2008. imports of oil from Russia, and Western sanctions cause energy companies to withdraw from the country. ![]() Russia’s invasion of Ukraine causes turmoil in global oil markets.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |