UN Mulls Limiting Influence of Fossil Fuel Industry at Global Climate Talks

"Civic groups and elected officials say the selection of host cities for the annual COP meetings, as well as the designation of delegates with ties to fossil fuels, must be more transparent."

"Halfway through the annual cycle of global climate talks between COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is holding technical meetings in Bonn through June 15 under a swirl of intensifying climate and political storms.

On the climate side, life-threatening extremes like the recent Asian heat waves are happening more often than expected and are stronger than projected by even the most recent assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Just ahead of the meeting, extreme rain and flooding hit Italy, and thick smoke waves from wildfires in Canada drifted across New York.

Politically, a growing number of civic groups, as well as elected officials in several countries, say the growing influence of fossil fuel companies in the climate negotiations threatens the UNFCCC’s fundamental credibility, as well as its ability to help rein in the emissions from burning oil, gas and coal.

At Bonn, a coalition of climate policy watchdog groups under the Climate Action International umbrella are intensifying their push to reform the U.N.’s climate framework to eliminate, or at least reduce, the role of fossil fuel companies in the process. For the first time, the United Nations climate secretariat seems open to change."

Bob Berwyn reports for Inside Climate News June 11, 2023.

Source: Inside Climate News, 06/13/2023