Last year EU governments brought 113 fossil fuel lobbyists to COP29, according to analysis from the Kick Big Polluters Out and Fossil Free Politics campaigns
However, partly thanks to our pressure, the European Commission did not bring any fossil fuel lobbyists last year, a big shift from previous COPs when it brought lobbyists including senior executives from BP, Exxon and Eni. We will keep on building the pressure on the European Commission and member states to stop granting access to fossil fuel lobbyists.
They would never bring tobacco lobbyists to a global health conference, so why would they bring fossil fuel lobbyists to a climate conference?
As COP30 approaches, we’re now calling on the EU’s climate chief, Commissioner Wopka Hoekstra, to not bring fossil fuel lobbyists to the UN climate talks again this year, and to push member states to do the same. We are also urging the Commission to advocate for an UNFCCC Accountability framework and to develop a robust EU-level conflict of interest policy to safeguard climate negotiations and policy making from undue influence.
Read the letter in full:
To: European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra
CC: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
CC: European Commissioner Teresa Ribera
Dear European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra,
Subject: Demonstrating Genuine EU Climate Leadership at COP30
We are writing to you in response to your letter dated 30 July 2025 on the subject of supporting an Accountability Framework to protect against undue influence of polluters at UNFCCC SB62 in Bonn earlier this year.[1] This follows our earlier correspondence of 4 November 2024, in which we raised concerns about fossil fuel interference in the UN climate process ahead of COP29.[2] Unfortunately, those concerns remain as urgent as ever.
This year, Europe has once again witnessed the devastating reality of the climate crisis. March was the warmest on record, especially in Eastern Europe. Two major heatwaves from mid-June to early July[3] brought unprecedented temperatures in places like Spain. About 24,400 people died from heat-related causes across 854 European cities between June and August. These tragedies are not isolated events, they are the direct result of decades of delay and obstruction by those profiting from fossil fuels.
Despite clear scientific warnings, the fossil fuel industry continues to shape policy and slow progress.[4] During President Von der Leyen’s last term, the European Commission held nearly 900 meetings with fossil fuel lobbyists, who used privileged access to shape policy.[5] The same pattern appears at the UN climate talks: over 1,700 fossil fuel representatives attended COP29, more than all delegates from the ten most climate-vulnerable nations combined.[6] This pattern of privileged access undermines public trust and the integrity of climate decision-making.
COP30 is a pivotal moment. In Belém, governments will gather once more to try and further the goals agreed under the Paris Agreement and limit global temperature rises to 1.5o C. The European Union has a crucial opportunity to demonstrate real climate leadership by not only committing to phase out fossil fuels, but also by ensuring that fossil fuel interests cannot block or weaken that transition.
We welcome your commitment to stronger climate action and acknowledge the European Commission’s positive step of excluding fossil fuel executives from its official delegation to COP29. However, EU Member States still included over 113 fossil fuel lobbyists in their national delegations.[7] If the EU is serious about leading the transition away from fossil fuels, it must act decisively to curb the industry’s undue influence at COP30 and beyond.
We also note that due to sustained pressure from civil society, the UNFCCC Secretariat has recently announced a set of measures inviting all non-government participants in its processes to disclose who is funding their participation at COP30 and publicly confirm in writing that their individual objectives are in full alignment with the UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, and Kyoto Protocol. This long-overdue measure follows a years-long dialogue within the observer review process and years of advocacy to address the influence of polluting industries on climate policymaking. It represents an important step toward greater transparency and the wider accountability mechanisms needed to limit fossil fuel industry interference. While this development is welcome, it remains insufficient on its own to ensure the integrity of international climate decision-making.[8]
To protect the integrity of climate policymaking—both within the EU and globally—we urge you to take the following actions:
- Do not grant UN climate summit accreditation (including overflow badges) to fossil fuel lobbyists or executives, and exclude them from the European Commission’s delegation to COP30 and future talks—building on your own positive example at COP29. Encourage Member States to do the same. Only by keeping vested interests out can the EU restore credibility and lead with integrity.
- Advocate for an UNFCCC Accountability Framework to safeguard negotiations from undue influence, building on precedents like Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.[9] The UNFCCC’s new requirements to disclose who funds a delegate’s participation is an important next step, but real accountability goes further.
- Develop a robust EU-level conflict of interest policy to shield public policymaking from fossil fuel interference, aligning European governance with the ambition and urgency of its climate goals.
The Fossil Free Politics coalition, representing over 200 organisations across Europe and the world, will monitor the presence and influence of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30. We look forward to following up with your cabinet after the summit to discuss progress on these critical issues.
At this defining moment, Europe must rise to the challenge. Real climate leadership means standing up to those who profit from delay and ensuring that climate policy serves people and the planet, not polluters.
Yours sincerely,
Nathan Stewart
Fossil Free Politics coordinator
Signed by:
350.org
A Sud – Ecologia e Cooperazione APS
Amis de la Terre France
Andy Gheorghiu Consulting
Anti-Jindal & Anti-POSCO Movement (JPPSS )
Associació Observatori DESCA
Austrian Alliance for Climate Justice
Beyond Fossil Fuels
BLOOM
Campagna Nazionale Per il Clima Fuori dal Fossile
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
CEE Bankwatch Network
Center for Environment / Centar za životnu sredinu
Center for International Environmental Law
Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment & Management (CECIC)
CIDSE
Citizens’ Climate Europe
Clean Air Action Group
Climate Action Durham
Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe
Climate Clock
Climate Emergency UK
CNCD-11.11.11
Co-ordination Office of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference for International Development and Mission (KOO)
Cobas Brindisi
Coordinamento Nazionale No Triv
Cordaid
Corporate Accountability
Corporate Europe Observatory
Debt Observatory in Globalisation (ODG)
Deutsche Umwelhilfe
Earth Ethics, Inc.
EA Za Zemiata
Eco Agents
ECODES
Ecologistas en Acción
EKO-UNIA Ekological Association
EKO energy ecolabel
Emergenzaclimatica.it
Enginyeria sense Fronteres
European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC)
European Union office of Oxfam International
Fern
Food & Water Action Europe
Forum Ambientalista
Fossil Free Parliament
Fossil Free Sweden
Fossielvrij NL
Friends of the Earth Europe
Friends of the Earth International
Friends of the Earth Ireland
Friends of the Earth Malta
Fuel Poverty Action
GLOBAL 2000
Global Witness
Green movement
Greenpeace (European Unit)
Grootouders voor het Klimaat
Hawkmoth
Hivos
ISDE, Associazione Medici per l’Ambiente
Klima-Bündnis Lëtzebuerg
La Tribu
LDH (Ligue des droits de l’Homme)
Learning Link Scotland
Leeds, Wakefield and York Unite Community branch
Les Amis de la Terre – Belgique asbl
Limity jsme my
LobbyControl
Milieudefensie / Friends of the Earth Netherlands
Misereor – German Catholic Bishops’ Organisation for Development Cooperation
Mothers Rise Up
Mouvement Ecologique
Movimenti per l’Acqua Forum H2O
Movimento No TAP/SNAM Brindisi
Magyar Természetvédők Szövetsége – Friends of the Earth Hungary
Naturefriends Greece
Naturefriends International
No Hub del Gas Abruzzo
NOAH – Friends of the Earth Denmark
Notre Affaire à Tous
Observatoire des multinationales
Oil Change International
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
Pensamiento y Acción Social
Polish Green Network (Polska Zielona Sieć)
PowerShift e.V.
Re-set: platform for socio-ecological transformation
ReCommon
Rete Nazionale No Rigass No GNL
Rise for Climate Belgium
SAVE MY WORLD
SETEM Catalunya
Shifting Advocacy
Social Ecological Institute
Sociedad Española de Agricultura Ecológica y Agroecología
SOMO
Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczne EKO-UNIA
The Green Fix
Transition Crich
Transparency International
Transparency International EU
Unite Croydon RM branch
WeMove Europe
WISE Nederland
YOUTH FOR GREEN NATURE
[1] https://fossilfreepolitics.org/news/reminder-sent-to-hoekstra-ahead-of-climate-talks/
[2] https://fossilfreepolitics.org/news/112-orgs-tell-hoekstra-not-to-bring-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-to-cop29/
[3] https://climate.copernicus.eu/heatwaves-contribute-warmest-june-record-western-europe
[4] https://fossilfreepolitics.org/news/report-big-oil-and-gas-buying-influence-in-brussels/
[5] https://fossilfreepolitics.org/news/new-report-2019-2024-von-der-leyen-commission-x-fossil-fuel-industry/
[6] https://kickbigpollutersout.org/COP29FossilFuelLobbyists
[7] https://fossilfreepolitics.org/news/europe-brings-gas-lobbyists-to-cop29-to-strike-deals/
[8] https://kickbigpollutersout.org/articles/release-un-climate-treaty-participants-required-disclose-industry-ties
[9] https://fctc.who.int/resources/publications/m/item/guidelines-for-implementation-of-article-5.3