Oil and gas industry turn up in force at COP28 in Dubai, UN data shows

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Oil and gas representatives outnumber most of the national delegations at COP28, an analysis of UN data by campaign groups has found, in a sign of increasing industry efforts to influence the discussion about global climate change policy.

The breakdown of attendees identified more than 2,450 people designated as representatives from the fossil fuel sector, said a coalition of non-profit organisations under the Kick Big Polluters Out banner.

Executives and employees paid by traditional oil, gas and coal companies were included in the tally, along with staff of companies dependent on the industry for revenue, as well as the lobby and trade groups that have publicly supported it.

The data was compiled by the organisations Corporate Accountability, Global Witness and Corporate Europe Observatory taking information from the UN’s provisional list of about 80,000-plus participants at COP28.

The figures do not compare directly with the 636 lobbyists identified at the previous UN climate summit held last year at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, which was based on more limited data at the time.

By way of comparison, however, the presence of the industry contingent is rivalled only by the size of two country delegations. Prospective COP30 host Brazil has a party of 3,000-plus, and the United Arab Emirates, the host, has invited 14,000 people in total. 

The UAE has made a feature of describing COP28 as the “most inclusive summit ever”. COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber also holds the role of head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s climate envoy, told the Financial Times the numbers were “perhaps a sign that the negotiations on a fossil fuel phaseout are very serious or the group wouldn’t be here in such numbers”.

But the presence of the oil and gas industry made it “absolutely essential that the voices of indigenous, youth NGOs and other stakeholders are heard”, she added.

Some country delegations include oil and gas company representatives — such as TotalEnergies and EDF being guests of France, or Eni of Italy.

The European Union brought representatives from BP and ExxonMobil. Others were attached to groups such as the International Emissions Trading Association, which registered 116 people for the summit including from energy companies Shell, Total and Equinor. 

The Spanish presidency of the council of the European Union said the “commitment of the fossil fuel sector to these negotiations is a positive step”.

“The gas and oil sectors should be engaged, but always with a focus on a phasing out of fossil fuels as the only way to climate security and the fight against climate change,” it said.

Walter Roban, deputy premier of Bermuda, said there was an acknowledgment that some oil and gas groups were shifting their business to cleaner forms of energy.

“Bermuda is clearly not an oil and gas base, but we recognise that some of these businesses are significantly working on renewable as well as traditional energy,” Roban said.

Data shared with the FT by the UN show the total of registered participants was 88,000, excluding a very large contingent of support staff.

As part of a push for more transparency on those seeking to influence the negotiations, the UN has given much more detail than in previous years about the affiliation of those who are given badges to access the influential “blue zone”.

The COP28 team said it had “invited stakeholders from across our action agenda, including the oil and gas industry, because broad collaboration is the only way we can design and deliver an agreement that keeps 1.5C [temperature rise limit] within reach”.