Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate
Dubai, UAE – Fossil fuel lobbyists are swarming COP28 this year, including Canada’s official delegation. According to the UN’s Provisional List of Registered Participants at COP28, 35 people with ties to the fossil fuel sector were given Party badges by Canada. Last year there were eight people with ties to the fossil fuel industry included in Canada’s list of badge holders.
“The fossil fuel industry knows that their time is up. As the head of the International Energy Agency has put it, we are approaching the end of the fossil fuel era. For the first time, the key issue at these climate talks is agreeing upon an approach to phase out the production of fossil fuels. So it is not surprising that fossil fuel executives are swarming COP28, in an effort to sabotage progress and peddle their dangerous distractions, like carbon capture and hydrogen. However, it is irresponsible for governments to include these climate villains in their official delegations. That is why we are so disappointed that the Government of Canada has included at least 35 people with ties to the fossil fuel industry in their official delegation, therefore providing access to COP28.”
The Government of Canada issued party badges to:
- 18 employees of oil and gas companies. This includes representatives from Cenovus Energy, Enbridge, Imperial Oil, Suncor and five members of the Pathways Alliance, a coalition of the largest tar sands companies in Canada.
- Six people from groups affiliated with the oil and gas industry, such as Energy for a Secure Future, which runs massive advertising campaigns in Ottawa promoting fossil exports.
- 11 people from companies selling false solutions, such as carbon capture and fossil hydrogen. This includes two employees of Air Products, a company which received a massive $300 million subsidy from the federal government for their blue hydrogen project.
- Other oil and gas lobbyists are attending COP as observers, such as the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, as well as 28 members of the Clean Resource Innovation Network, which serves to promote oil and gas greenwashing and even have their own Pavillion at the conference.
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