Opinion | COP28: ostracising Big Oil and polluters won’t deliver action on climate change
- Excluding the oil industry from climate summits would only free polluters from responsibility, accountability and exposure to opposing views
- Instead, vulnerable nations should seize the opportunity to disrupt the fossil-fuel status quo at source
Oil executives and polluters must no longer be part of climate summits, let alone be “placed on a leadership pedestal”. That demand came from four UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) constituencies and 425 organisations representing millions of people across the globe, on January 26.
It’s fair to say the involvement of Big Oil has historically led to the corruption and weakening of climate policies. But to turf out the industry altogether is also to free it from responsibility, accountability and exposure to opposing views, an option it would probably accept with delight. Thus, exclusion may not be the best approach for advancing climate action, and alternative perspectives ought to be considered – ones that look at their participation as an opportunity, rather than a threat.
The letter reads: “There is no honour in appointing a fossil-fuel executive who profits immensely off of fuelling the climate crisis”. It expressed grave disappointment that the action could be seen as acceptable in a deepening climate crisis. This “exemplifies just how insidious Big Polluters’ stranglehold over climate policy is”, it reasoned.
Such exploitation would merit a response but disbarment may not be the most appropriate. After all, lobbying was not the sole reason behind the failure to phase out fossil fuels.
