BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 16, 2024— At least 480 lobbyists for companies and groups that advocate for a misguided technology that prolongs fossil fuel use have gained access to the COP29 climate talks, according to a new analysis* conducted by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).
The number of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage lobbyists is higher than the core delegations** from the United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, and the European Union*** combined. Nearly half (209) are attending as members of national delegations, potentially giving them greater access to the negotiations. The COP29 Presidency invited 55 as guests.
The number of CCS lobbyists has increased compared to last year’s at the conference in Dubai (475), despite the overall number of participants being significantly lower in Baku (52504 compared to 81027 at COP28. Figures exclude media and support staff).
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), also known as CCUS when it includes “utilization”, is a key topic at COP29, with lobbyists advocating for its implementation as a climate solution.
CCS is a lifeline for the coal, oil, and gas industries as they pursue fanciful ways to avoid effective climate action. Worryingly, their attempts to preserve their business are showing results—increasingly national climate plans bet on these unreliable technologies.
CCS purports to enable polluters to ‘manage’ their carbon dioxide emissions by trapping them and injecting them underground or underneath the seabed or using them in industrial processes.
But this technology has a decades-long history of overpromising and underdelivering, with 78% of large-scale projects cancelled or put on hold.
“We are witnessing fossil fuel greenwashing by those attempting to delay the inevitable fossil fuels phaseout. This large presence of lobbyists is a confirmation that the carbon capture industry is working hard to promote the misguided CCS technology. But governments and companies simply cannot ‘clean’ their coal, oil, and gas by capturing and ‘managing’ emissions: CCS has repeatedly failed to deliver,” said CIEL International Carbon Capture Campaigner Rachel Kennerley.
“The significant number of CCS lobbyists at COP29 highlights the fossil fuel industry’s substantial investment in attempting to secure its future, despite the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels. While CCS promotion continues within the corridors and meeting rooms of the climate talks, the real impacts will be out in the real world. Investing in this expensive and unreliable technology will lock in fossil fuels and waste precious time and money that we cannot afford. Large-scale CCS transport and storage also comes with significant health and safety risks,” she added.
Many more representatives of fossil fuel companies and their supporters present in Baku may also be using COP29 to promote other carbon capture technologies such as Direct Air Capture, hoping to cover up their continued emissions.
“If left unchecked, corporate capture — as demonstrated by the volume of fossil fuel lobbyists roaming the corridors and rooms of COP29 — will continue to impede progress towards climate action. It is long past time for the UNFCCC and States to address the obvious conflict of interest of allowing those who are harming the planet to influence the process of saving it,” said CIEL Senior Attorney Erika Lennon.
“We need to reform the climate negotiations process and make sure the voices of people on the frontlines, not the voices of polluters, are taking center stage,” she added.
The CIEL analysis was released one day after the Kick Big Polluters Out Coalition reported that 1773 fossil fuel lobbyists gained access to this year’s climate talks.
* Journalists can request a copy of the new CIEL analysis from the CIEL press office.
** Party delegation numbers do not include ‘overflow badges’ and ‘European Union’ refers to the delegates of European Union institutions, not to the combined delegates of the 27 individual EU member states.
*** This refers to European Union institutions delegates, not to the combined delegations of the 27 individual EU member states.
Notes to Editors
CCS projects have routinely failed to live up to their hype and full lifecycle emissions are often not taken into account, including in the use of captured carbon for enhanced oil recovery, which over 70% of captured carbon is used for. A 2021 study found that 78% of attempted large-scale CCS projects fail or are paused due to technical problems or overspending.
CCS may be “highly economically damaging,” and cost at least USD 30 trillion more than a pathway based primarily on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electrification, according to a 2023 report from Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.CCS can enable and worsen harm to communities already burdened by fossil fuel infrastructure with increased air pollution.
CCS can also pose significant risks of leakage and other harms stemming from transporting and storing carbon dioxide.
Technologies like Direct Air Capture (DAC) have similarly been deployed to justify delaying the phaseout of fossil fuels. A 2023 CIEL report exposes the potential for DAC to do more harm than good by perpetuating the lifespan of fossil fuel infrastructure and diverting resources away from more effective and proven climate solutions.
Methodology Notes:
The analysis shows that these 480 lobbyists include representatives from companies involved in CCS and CCUS projects, as per an International Energy Agency (IEA) database, and other companies and organizations that have a public track record of specifically advocating for these technologies.
The analysis is based on the UNFCCC’s provisional list of onsite participants.
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Media Contact:
In Baku week 1 (Nov 10 – 17): Rossella Recupero, Communications Campaign Specialist + 41 76 216 5976 (Signal), +39 340 47 39 827 (WhatsApp), press@ciel.org
In Baku week 2 (Nov 17 – 22): Maria Frausto, Communications Director + 1 202 569-8107 (Signal and WhatsApp), press@ciel.org
Remote in Geneva: Niccolò Sarno, Media Relations Specialist + 41 22 506 80 37 (Signal and WhatsApp), press@ciel.org