NGOs: EU sent 113 fossil fuel lobbyists to Baku

ArmInfo.The oil and gas lobby sent a representative delegation to COP29 in Baku. According to the report of the Kick Polluters Out coalition, which unites more  than 450 NGOs, 1,773 lobbyists have been granted access to the UN  climate conference. According to environmental activists, 113  lobbyists were accompanying European national government delegations,  as reported by Euronews. "Greece led the way with 24 lobbyists, while  Italy had 22, followed by Sweden and Belgium.  Greece and Italy are  the countries that buy the most gas from Azerbaijan. It is therefore  not surprising that they have so many fossil fuel lobbyists," said  Marcella Via of Corporate Europe Observatory. 

Sweden and Belgium took third and fourth place with 17 and 13 oil and  gas lobbyists in their delegation, respectively. The European  Commission stood out by not having any lobbyist present in Baku,  unlike at COP28 in Dubai. "There are no fossil fuel lobbyists in the  European Commission delegation this year, and this is due to  increasing pressure from civil society. We met with EU Climate  Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, he went through a hearing... and there  was increasing pressure on him not to involve oil and gas lobbyists  in the EU," added Marcella Via.  There is a clear conflict of  interest, NGOs note. Since Friday, major oil and gas industry players  such as TotalEnergies, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, Eni, and  Russia's Gazprom have been present in Baku.  Saudi Aramco, the  planet's largest polluter, also attended, with its CEO dismissing the  idea of moving away from fossil fuels as "a fantasy."