Wait, there are other big guys besides negotiators that represent their countries?
Yes, under the current UNFCCC rules, there are many observer groups (constituencies) who are allowed to attend UN meetings, receive updates and support from the Secretariat, make submissions, give interventions in UN meetings (basically giving speeches in the negotiation hall). And one of them is BINGO. Well, not the game but the Business and Industry Non-governmental Organization. Don't know if the naming is a strategical move to downplay the significance of business interest in the climate change negotiation process, but anyways let's proceed to the problem.The Problem
On 16 May 2017, discussions at the Bonn Climate Change Conference was going around deleting words that may hint the need of addressing the conflict of interest between the corporate and the UNFCCC agenda. Unfortunately, words like corporate, corporation, business, private sector were "prohibited" to be mentioned. BINGO's profit motives hinder the progress of addressing climate change, putting their priority above well, basically everyone else and the planet.Once again, the divide between the well-who-cares-about-you bloc and the why-are-you-doing-this-again bloc surfaced. The Like-Minded Developing Countries, which includes China and India, are pushing for a reduction in corporate influence while others *cough* *whispers* US, Russia, European countries, Australia and more are defending corporations. Here is a link to FinancialTimes' article on this issue.
Corporate Accountability International released a report "Inside Job: Big Polluters' Lobbyists on the inside of the UNFCCC" on May 1, detailing their finding. Click here for the full report and here for the summary. These lobbyists include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Mining Association, Business Roundtable, FuelsEurope, Business Council of Australia, International Chamber of Commerce, and many more. They speak on behalf of companies like Exxon Mobile, Shell, BP (well, they were funded by them so it's kinda their job to do so). The report calls for a "formally reach a consensus on a universal definition of a conflict of interest", which is a miracle to achieve when even words like "business" are not being mentioned. The other request is to "create a stringent, transparent process for admission" mainly based on intentions of protecting the people and the planet instead of the current way-to-lenient process.
Perhaps because countries that prioritize their polluters may want them in to lobby with other countries so that they can push their agenda. Or maybe the negotiators will need to listen to the powerful lobbyist from their country. The question here is not about the reason, but to stop this situation.
But...
There is truth in the statement that business and corporate play a big role in addressing climate change. We need to involve them, but not in the way that it is now. Companies need to take on their responsibilities and be a part of the solution, not the problem. Favoring neoliberalism in international climate change policies will bring us nowhere and countries need be aware of that. But how can we stop these fossil fuels companies from destroying our planet?
What can we do about this?
In hope of not being ______ by big polluters, everyone will need to spread the awareness, creating public pressure for the negotiators in the room to listen to the public instead of the polluter companies. Share these press materials on your social media, with your friends and families and whoever is sitting next to you!
Every post and tweet counts!
