The world is in a climate crisis, and the fossil fuel industry is at the heart of it. But here's where it gets controversial: thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists have been granted access to UN climate talks, and they're still drilling away. In the past four years, over 5,000 fossil fuel lobbyists have attended UN climate summits, a period marked by a rise in catastrophic extreme weather, inadequate climate action, and record oil and gas expansion. These lobbyists, representing the interests of the oil, gas, and coal industries, have been allowed to participate in annual climate negotiations where states are supposed to commit to ambitious policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the reality is far from ideal. The research, shared exclusively with the Guardian, found that these lobbyists worked for at least 859 fossil fuel organizations, including trade groups, foundations, and 180 oil, gas, and coal companies involved in every part of the supply chain. And the impact of these companies is staggering. Just 90 of the fossil fuel corporations that sent lobbyists to climate talks between 2021 and 2024 accounted for more than half of all the oil and gas produced last year. These corporations, which include many of the world's most profitable private and publicly owned oil and gas majors, accounted for the production of 33,699 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2024, enough to cover more than the entire area of Spain with a 1cm blanket of oil. And the problem doesn't stop there. These same 90 firms also account for almost two-thirds of all short-term upstream fossil fuel expansion projects, which will produce enough oil to coat the entire landmass of seven European countries. The findings have renewed calls for fossil fuel companies and other big polluters to be banned from the annual climate negotiations, but the question remains: how can we stop them? The 30th UN climate summit (COP30) opens in Belem, Brazil, where the world's largest rainforest is being destroyed by fossil fuel exploitation, industrial agriculture, and mining. The annual meetings are where every country in the world negotiates on how best to tackle the climate crisis, but the decisions are often driven by the interests of powerful corporations rather than the needs of the planet. The UNFCCC has been contacted for comment, and advocates are calling for stricter conflict of interest protections to cut industry influence. But the question remains: can we truly fix a process that has been captured by the very corporations burning the planet and fueling wars?
