COP26's largest delegation? The fossil fuel industry! More than 500 people with links to oil and gas interests are accredited for summit – more than from any single country, says study
There are more delegates at the Cop26 climate conference with links to the fossil fuel industry than from any single country, according to an analysis by eco-campaigners.
World leaders have gathered in Glasgow to set out the action they are taking and commit to end funding for fossil fuels abroad, cut methane emissions, curb deforestation, and phase out coal.
However, more than 500 people with oil and gas interests are accredited for the summit, according to analysis of the UN's provisional list of named attendees by Global Witness and other groups.
Around 40,000 people are attending Cop26, with data showing that Brazil has the biggest official team of negotiators at 479 delegates while the UK, which is hosting the major conference, has 230.
Campaigners have found that more than 100 fossil fuel companies have been represented at the conference, including the International Emissions Trading Association, which has 103 delegates.
The IETA is backed by oil companies who promote offsetting and carbon trading to allow them to continue extracting fossil fuels, the groups claimed.
The environmentalists have now called for these delegates to be banned from the conference. Murray Worthy, Gas Campaign Leader at Global Witness, said: 'The case for meaningful global action must not be diverted by a festival of polluters and their mouthpieces, who have no interest in seeing the changes we need to protect people and the planet.'
A Cop26 spokesman told MailOnline: 'Every country is responsible for choosing its own delegates and the UNFCCC is responsible for all accreditation to Cop26.'
A factory chimney smokes at the Usiminas steel industrial complex, located at the city of Ipatinga, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on November 6, 2021
Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties
Members of Extinction Rebellion gather in George Square in Glasgow on November 7, 2021
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'The presence of hundreds of those being paid to push the toxic interests of polluting fossil fuel companies, will only increase the scepticism of climate activists who see these talks as more evidence of global leaders' dithering and delaying.
'The scale of the challenge ahead means there is no time for us to be diverted by greenwashing or meaningless corporate promises not matched by delivery.
'It's time for politicians to show they are serious about ending the influence of big polluters over political decision-making and commit to a future where expert and activist voices are given centrestage.'
Rachel Rose Jackson, director of climate research and policy at Corporate Accountability, added: 'The architects of the climate crisis cannot build a livable and just future when they've already burnt the house down.'
And Pascoe Sabido, researcher and campaigner for Corporate Europe Observatory, said: 'Cop26 is being sold as the place to raise ambition, but it's crawling with fossil fuel lobbyists whose only ambition is to stay in business.
'The likes of BP are inside these talks despite openly admitting to upping their production of fossil gas.
'If we're serious about raising ambition, then fossil fuel lobbyists should be shut out of the talks and out of our national capitals.
'Instead, it is governments and communities from countries most affected by climate change that are finding themselves shut out, despite the UK claiming it has ensured an in-person and inclusive climate summit.
'Clearly that ambition only stretches as far as the fossil fuel industry. We need fossil free politics.'
It comes as Environment Secretary revealed that the UK could hike taxes on imports from countries that fail to tackle climate change.
The Cabinet minister revealed the prospect of a 'carbon border tax' is being examined by officials in Whitehall. In theory it could heap costs on products from states considered to be dodging their responsibilities to act.
But Mr Eustice insisted the Government will not bring in an arbitrary 'meat tax' to increase prices on food to reflect environmental impacts.
Any move to a border tax on imports would take several years and Mr Eustice said it would ideally happen on an international basis. Officials from the Treasury and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are looking at models of how a carbon border tax might work.
'In an ideal world, it will be done multilaterally, with the whole world coming together to agree this,' he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show from Glasgow.
'But it is going to be important. If you're going to have carbon taxes at some point in the future, and emissions trading, you can only really make sense of that with a carbon border tax.'
Boris Johnson urged negotiators in Glasgow to 'drive for the line' to get deals on tackling climate change
George Eustice revealed the prospect of a 'carbon border tax' is being examined by officials in WhitehallThe purpose of the tax would be to prevent pollution effectively being exported by bringing in products from countries without taking into account the emissions produced there.
'We would be saying, as countries, that we're taking the action necessary to deal with this global challenge, but we're not going to allow those producers in this country to be undercut by those who aren't doing their share, and we're not going to export pollution.
'So if you don't want to export pollution, then you do at some point have to consider something like a carbon border tax.'
However, Mr Eustice was clear that a 'meat tax' is not on the horizon.
'We're not going to have an arbitrary meat tax or meat levy,' he said. 'That's never been on the cards. I've never supported it.'
In remarks briefed overnight after the Glasgow summit passes the halfway stage, PM said: 'There is one week left for Cop26 to deliver for the world, and we must all pull together and drive for the line.'
Mr Johnson said nations had brought 'ambition and action to help limit rising temperatures', hailing agreements on deforestation and methane emissions.
'But we cannot underestimate the task at hand to keep 1.5C alive,' he went on. 'Countries must come back to the table this week ready to make the bold compromises and ambitious commitments needed.'
It comes as thousands of demonstrators in the UK and Europe took to the streets on Saturday demanding urgent action to tackle the climate crisis.
Thousands of people including students and Left-wing activists marched through Glasgow and carried red flags and banners reading 'Capitalism is killing the planet' amid a significant police presence.
In Scotland's second city, demonstrators brought the centre to a standstill by chaining themselves to the King George V Bridge, blocking pedestrians and cars as they sang 'power to the people' and unfurled a banner which read: 'Climate revolution… or we will lose everything'. Images at the scene of the chaos show Police Scotland officers arresting the protesters.
Meanwhile in London, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Bank of England for the start of a two-mile march through the city to Trafalgar Square, banging steel drums, chanting 'one solution' and waving Extinction Rebellion banners reading 'tell the truth'.
Speaking on stage at Trafalgar Square, former Green Party leader Sian Berry said climate change protesters represent 'the majority'. To cheers from the huge crowd, she added: 'We are here in our thousands, in our millions, we are most people now, and we will be heard.'
Across the Irish Sea, activists congregated in Belfast ahead of a noisy and colourful march through the city centre before a planned rally at City Hall - while in the Republic of Ireland, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin.
Mena and women waving red flags were guarded by police officers in Glasgow during the demonstrations in the city
Thousands of protesters are gathering around the world ahead of mass demonstrations about climate change. Pictured: Protesters in the city of London
A demonstrator is detained during a protest on the King George V Bridge in Glasgow
Climate activists attend a protest organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow on November 6, 2021
Thunberg joins fellow Emma Watson to dismiss Cop26 as 'greenwashing campaign for politicians and CEOs'
Greta Thunberg dismissed Cop26 as a 'greenwashing campaign' for politicians as she joined Emma Watson on a climate discussion panel.
Miss Thunberg, who also this week denounced Government figures who gathered in the Scottish city for 'whatever the f*** they are doing in there', attended the New York Times' 'Climate Hub' - a forum for discussing 'actionable climate strategies', also based in Glasgow.
Greta Thunberg dismissed Cop26 as a 'greenwashing campaign' for politicians as she joined Emma Watson on a climate discussion panel
The Swedish eco activist heaped scorn the UN's Cop26 conference, branding it a 'greenwash campaign, a PR campaign' for businesses and politicians to pretend they are taking action, but not follow through.
In a 'surprise session' curated by Emma Watson, Miss Thunberg said: 'Since we are so far from what actually we needed, I think what would be considered a success would be if people realize what a failure this COP is.'
She and other young female activists, including Malala Yousafzai and Vanessa Nakate, also discussed the role women have played in bringing together protests and demanding action from world leaders, the New York Times reports.In total, some 200 events took place across the UK and around the world including France, the Netherlands and Australia, according to organisers The Cop26 Coalition. The marches come after Greta Thunberg led schoolchildren and their parents through Glasgow as they protested against investment in fossil fuels and 'failure' to tackle the climate crisis.
Miss Thunberg, 18, called the Cop26 conference, where countries are meeting in a bid to increase ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, 'a global north greenwash festival, a two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah'.
The latest demonstrations come midway through the summit, which has seen world leaders gather to set out the action they are taking.
But there is still a significant gap between the measures countries have committed to and what is needed to avoid more than 1.5C of warming, beyond which the worst floods, droughts, storms and rising seas of climate change will be felt.
Countries are under pressure to agree a process to increase ambition in the next decade, as well as deliver finance for developing countries to cope with the crisis and finalise the last parts of how the global Paris Agreement on climate change will work.
As the protests take place, negotiations continue at Cop26, while the conference is also focusing on the role of nature, land use and agriculture in tackling climate change on Saturday.
Jason Cook, 54, from Wootton Bassett, said he and two friends were marching through Glasgow because they were tired of hearing 'blah, blah, blah' from leaders on climate action.
The three men had come to the march wearing helmets, each adorned with a sign which said 'blah', echoing the description of the Cop26 summit by Ms Thunberg.
Dave Knight, 51, from Wiltshire, said the best way to stave off the worst effects of climate change is to end the use and extraction of fossil fuels. He also said 'significantly more investment' was needed in renewables.
Demonstrators will also be on the streets of central London, as well as for 200 events across the UK and around the world, organisers said.
Ms Blake, 33, from Kentish Town in north London, said she had joined the protest so the Government would 'make the right decisions for our children' at the Glasgow summit.
Another parent, Valkan Aran, 48, from Stoke Newington, carried his four-year-old daughter Aylin on his shoulders and told local media he wanted to show her how to take action for her future.
Katie Harrington was among the crowds who gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin for a march through the city to Government Buildings.
'For me it's extremely important that we use our voices,' said the Dublin woman.
'I'm not here for myself, I'm here for future generations. We need our government to actually act on climate change and the climate crisis, not just keep talking and not just keep making plans.
'It's really important for us to use our voices and march on these streets so we're heard.'
The energy sector tried with the Hubbard curve to convince us that petroleum would be exhausted by now. That was falsified. The other tactic is to say that we have the petroleum but will destroy ourselves using it.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Both plans were to spin the nuclear industry back up. That's the final conclusion of all this "Green" nonsense. Solar and wind won't produce enough. Fossil generates CO2. Oh please don't throw in the bad ole nuclear energy briar patch! They're steering the discussion back to nuclear. And ironically a nuclear plant requires so much fossil fuel to build it is a question of whether it actually pays out more energy in its lifetime than it takes to build.