As the UN climate talks wind down in Lima, Peru this week, climate activists are calling on officials to keep future negotiations free from the influence of the very industry causing the climate crisis.
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The activists say that as at last year’s climate talks in Poland, the industry has been allowed influence and “free reign” at the talks, during which negotiators are tasked with coming up with a deal to be agreed to in Paris next year. On Friday they delivered over 50,000 petition signatures collected by 350.org to the UN climate officials to underscore this message.
The petition reads, in part:
How does the industry exercise its influence at the negotiations? 350.org’s Jamie Henn wrote:
“This process needs to hear the voices of the people, not polluters,” charged Hoda Baraka, Global Communications Manager for 350.org, in a media statement. “The fossil fuel industry is actively lobbying against climate action and standing in the way of progress. When you’re trying to burn the table down, you don’t deserve a seat at it.”
Pascoe Sabido, Researcher and Campaigner at Corporate Europe Observatory, added: “It’s just common sense that those who are causing the crisis should be kept as far away from solving it as possible.”
An updated database released Monday by the Climate Accountability Institute (CAI) highlights the fossil fuel industry’s role in the climate crisis. Among the Institute’s findings:
- 65 percent of all anthropogenic CO2 emitted since 1751 from fossil fuels and cement are caused by just 90 entities.
- Nearly one-third of all global industrial CO2 since that time is from carbon fuels produced by the top twenty fossil fuel companies, which include Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP.
“The delegates at the climate conference are dealing with emissions country-by-country,” stated Richard Heede, the principal researcher who runs CAI. “Looking at emission through the lens of the relatively few companies that are actually producing the fuels paints a different, and complementary picture.”
Reducing the influence of this industry—both on a global platform like the UN climate talks as well as at a national level—is key to enact climate-addressing changes, advocates say.
“Even if emissions plummeted today, climate change impacts will continue to mount,” sated Angela Anderson, Director of Union of Concerned Scientists’ Climate and Energy Program.
“The emissions commitments countries will pledge in Paris require policy changes at home. Reducing the influence of politically powerful carbon producers will help countries pass the laws that are needed. It is high time that these companies stop deceiving the public, stop polluting and take responsibility for the damages,” said Anderson.