The fossil lobby has one of the largest delegations.

Dubai has the record

Many representatives of this industry have access to the COP as part of trade associations, 80% of them come from countries of the Global North. The largest of them is the International Emissions Trading Association, which has transferred 43 people, including representatives of polluting companies such as French oil company TotalEnergies or Swiss multinational raw materials company Glencore.

Other countries include members of their delegations lobby, As is the case with Japan and coal giant Sumitomo, Canada and oil companies Suncor and Tourmaline, or Italy with energy companies Eni and Enel.

The number of ‘lobbyists’ at the Baku summit is the second largest after last year’s Dubai summit, when 2,456 delegates attended, although in general the number of attendees at that COP far exceeds all others.

Climate experts call for overall “reform” at summit

The report comes on the same day as the publication of an open letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in which leading global experts on climate policy call for “fundamental reform” of the functioning of the summits and the exclusion of countries from them. Not committed to the energy transition. The letter has been signed by former UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, former UN climate chief, Christiana Figueres, or respected scientist Johan Rockström.

Climate summits have achieved “significant milestones” since their inception twenty-eight years ago, But they no longer complete their work, they condemn, These experts say, “We need to shift the focus from negotiations to implementation, allowing the COP to meet agreed commitments and achieve an urgent energy transition and phase-out of fossil energy.” and Maria João Rodrigues, head of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies.

“Its current structure cannot lead to change at the exponential pace and scale needed to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity,” they say in a letter transmitted through the Club of Rome, which repeats the message that came from the same forum. Had expressed in 2023. Meaning, they raise a series of issues they consider essential to move forward, starting with reforming the selection process for UN climate summit presidents.

“We need strict eligibility criteria for Exclude countries that do not support fossil energy transition/eliminationHost countries must demonstrate a high level of ambition to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” he says. The message came during the COP held in Azerbaijan, where its President Ilham Aliyev, whose country gets about half of its GDP from gas and oil, said at the opening that fossil fuels are “a gift from God “