Al Gore slams level of 'control' fossil fuel companies have over COP climate talks
"it's just wrong that the fossil fuel industry has gained so much control over the world's processes for trying to solve the climate crisis"
Al Gore has slammed the level of “control” fossil fuel companies have over the UN climate summit that was supposed to help the world tackle the growing climate crisis they’ve caused. The former US Vice President has called for the “reform” of COP which has now been held in petrostates “three years in a row” with large numbers of fossil fuel lobbyists allowed in.
Mr Gore, who’s also founder and chair of The Climate Reality Project, made the comments at a special event held by his organisation in Baku on Friday. He told those gathered “it’s just wrong that the fossil fuel industry has gained so much control over the world’s processes for trying to solve the climate crisis”.
“Why should the fossil fuel industry have more delegates than the combined delegations for the 10 most impacted countries by the climate crisis?”
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“What we are facing is a global crisis unlike any we have ever faced.
“It’s just startling to look at how thin that blue shell around our planet is and to realise that is what we are using as an open sewer for 175 million tonnes of global warming pollution spews into it every single day and the amount continues to go up.
“Tragically, we are seeing this continued increase in the number and the intensity of climate related extreme events.
“I used to use examples of the phenomenon we are seeing from 10 years ago, five years ago, 20 years ago - now it’s, this was yesterday, last week, two weeks ago. It’s getting hard to keep up with all these catastrophes.”
Global Witness, whose CEO Mike Davis took part in a panel discussion at the event, revealed on Friday that out of the 52,000 people at COP29, over 1,700 of those registered are fossil fuel lobbyists.
Citing the research, Mr Gore said the Secretary General of the United Nations should have a role in picking where COP is after Russia vetoed every choice but Azerbaijan last year. He also suggested “a standard set of criteria governing who from the fossil fuel industry can be allowed in”.
“Number one: Do they have a real and credible net zero commitment in the company they’re from? If not, no.
“Do they have a plan to phase down the production of oil and gas? Are they committed to full disclosure of their marine pollution emissions? Are they spending an adequate share of their windfall profits on the transition to clean energy? Will they end their climate lobby? Will they end their greenwashing?
“If they can’t pass that test, they ought not be allowed to participate as delegates in these COPs. We ought to push this reform agenda.”
Charities, aid groups and civil society have long held concerns about the influence fossil fuel companies have gained over the talks, with both UAE and Azerbaijan using it to do new oil and gas deals when in charge.
Mr Gore also hit out at carbon capture and sequestration fixes for the climate crisis, describing them as “a fraud”. He added: “The oil and gas companies are trying to fool us into thinking they can continue emitting all this pollution into the sky as long as they want to but they’ll suck it out of the air after.
“Carbon capture and sequestration is a fraud and they know it’s a fraud. But they continue putting it out there and... some of the right wing media will just do whatever the fossil fuel industry wants them to do.
“Let’s be clear, the climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis - 80% of the global warming pollution comes from burning fossil fuels,” he added. “We have to penetrate that veil of illusion and have policies based on the truth of our situation.
“Now we clearly have something better.... renewable energy.”
Ireland’s Climate Minister Eamon Ryan was also at the event and got a special welcome from Mr Gore. Minister Ryan told the Irish Mirror: “I think his suggestions are really good ones.
“But what he says himself, [is] you have to get the process to agree to change the process. How do you do that? And more than anything else... how do you get the public support to make the politicians feel pressured to make that change? That’s the biggest challenge.
“Until that comes I don’t think the political system will be able to get through the difficult process of changing things.
“When Al Gore wrote his book An Inconvenient Truth in the early 2000s, there was real public demand for change but that tide comes in and goes out.
“It’s a bit unfortunate it is out a bit at the moment.”
We will be bringing all the latest updates from the COP29 climate summit in Baku with support from Global Ireland. You can follow our environment correspondent on the ground @ShaunaReports on X/ @shaunacorr.bsky.social.
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