COP29: 1,700 fossil fuel lobbyists swarm venue; India opts for subdued presence

Lobbyists were outnumbered only by delegations sent by host Azerbaijan, Brazil and Turkey

After an eventful first three days, there has been silence at COP29. This is how these meets are supposed to be, said one COP veteran from India. After witnessing the pomp and splendour of the past two COPs, many have forgotten that this is, at the crux of it, an international climate conference, the veteran went on to say, and negotiations are meant to be long and tedious. Hopefully slow and steady will win the race. 

But not if fossil fuel companies have their way. There are apparently 1,773 of them, according to a new analysis from the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition. They were outnumbered only by delegations sent by host Azerbaijan (2,229), COP30 host Brazil (1,914), and Turkey (1,862). This number is a lot smaller compared to last year when 2,456 lobbyists attended COP28, but Baku is also a much smaller event in terms of venue size and attendees. Most of the lobbyists were from Azerbaijan (258), followed by Turkey (96), Russia (81) and Brazil (76). There were no representatives this year from India, which is a huge change from last year when companies like the Adani Group, Tata Steel Ltd,  JSW Steel Ltd, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd, Mahindra and Apollo were present. 

Speaking of attendees, there has been talk of India’s subdued presence at COP this year. While Indian negotiators have always largely stayed under the radar, the Indian pavilion (stalls put up by countries, organisations at COP) has traditionally seen lots of footfall over the past 10 years. COP23 in Bonn, Germany, for example, became quite popular because of its yoga teaching sessions, reminisced one senior journalist. This year, however, India doesn’t have a pavilion. Indian leaders have also given this COP a skip. This is a far cry from last year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched to host the COP in 2028. The no-show won’t affect India’s negotiating strategy, say those in the know. Is India looking to be low-key at Baku and is preparing to take the finance battle to the Brazil COP? We still have a week to find out. This statement by India on behalf of LMDC made at the High-Level Ministerial on Climate Finance, however, reiterated its climate finance stance and did not say anything new. 

An open letter by important climate experts (part of an organisation called The Club of Rome), including former UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon and former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, and submitted to the UN, read: 
“Current structure [of COP] simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale, which is essential to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity.” It called for improvements in the COP presidency selection process and enhanced equitable representation considering the growing number of fossil fuel lobbyists at COPs. 

“The COP is an intergovernmental process for countries to agree and then deliver action on climate change. It needs to be inclusive and carry everyone, including fossil fuels stakeholders who need to become part of the solution,” said Manjeev Puri, distinguished fellow, TERI and former ambassador. But with such glaring differences between all COP stakeholders, the question of bringing everyone together is as complex as the negotiations themselves. 

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Anushka Mohite

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