COP30: Corporate influence looms large at global climate summit

Black and white photograph of a coal fired power plant. [Getty Images]

More than 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists have been granted access to the COP30 climate talks in Belém, Brazil.

It is the largest share of industry presence in the history of UN climate negotiations.

The figure means one in every 25 people attending the conference represents oil, gas, or coal interests.

Only Brazil’s host delegation, with 3,805 participants, is larger.

The findings, released by the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, show a 12 per cent increase in fossil fuel lobbyists compared to last year’s COP in Baku.

It also reveals that fossil fuel representatives outnumber delegates from almost every country.

For smaller and climate-vulnerable nations, the imbalance is blunt.

Lobbyists outnumber official delegates from the Philippines by nearly 50 to 1. They outnumber Jamaica’s by more than 40 to 1, even as the island struggles to recover from Hurricane Melissa.

Their numbers are two-thirds higher than the total delegates from the ten most climate-vulnerable nations combined.

Trade associations remain the main entry route for the fossil fuel industry.

The International Emissions Trading Association brought 60 representatives, including staff from ExxonMobil, BP, and TotalEnergies.

The International Chamber of Commerce brought 148 participants. The Brazilian National Confederation of Industry sent 41. Some lobbyists entered the talks under official government badges.

France included 22 fossil fuel representatives in its delegation, among them TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné.

Norway added 17, including six executives from its national oil company, Equinor.

Japan’s delegation contained 33, drawn from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Osaka Gas.

This influence has not gone unnoticed.

“It is common sense that you cannot solve a problem by giving power to those who caused it,” said Jax Bongon from IBON International in the Philippines. “Three decades and 30 COPs later, more than 1,500 fossil fuel lobbyists are roaming the climate talks as if they belong here.”

For many activists, the picture is clear. COP30, framed by Brazil as the “Implementation COP,” risks being shaped by those who profit from delay.

“This is corporate capture, not climate governance,” said Lien Vandamme from the Center for International Environmental Law.

The fossil fuel presence comes as 2025 is projected to be among the hottest years ever recorded. Global carbon dioxide levels have reached unprecedented highs.

At the same time, governments have approved nearly 250 billion dollars in new oil and gas projects since COP29.

The contradiction is glaring. Countries promise to cut emissions while allowing massive expansion of the very industries driving the crisis.

The imbalance shapes what issues dominate negotiation rooms and how decisions are framed.

Developing nations, especially in Africa and the Pacific, arrive with small teams focused on survival and adaptation. They face lobby groups with resources, legal teams, and direct access to negotiators.