Guide to business lobby in Copenhagen

Brussels/Copenhagen, 9 December - Business lobbyists have been pushing governments to reject tough targets on carbon emissions cuts, according to a new lobbying guide published today by Corporate Europe Observatory [1].

Making money out of climate change is a four-page guide to some of the business lobby groups active in Copenhagen. It highlights how the UN climate negotiations have become a major target for business groups, keen to see their preferred “solutions” - such as nuclear power, a global emissions market and carbon capture and storage - included on the agenda.

But Corporate Europe Observatory says examination of the business agenda shows that it is aimed at blocking effective action on climate change while boosting profits from solutions which are not delivering rapid emission cuts - such as carbon trading, nuclear energy and agrofuels.

Corporate Europe Observatory campaigner Nina Holland said:
“Copenhagen has been a major target for big business lobbyists - and they have been working hard to bend the positions of national governments and the EU in their favour.  Big business wants to be seen as part of the solution - but their solutions are designed to protect their profits, not our climate.”

The European Chemicals Industry Council (Cefic) - one of the groups featured in the guide - has lobbied the European Union not to increase its emission reduction commitments for 2020 - despite scientific and political pressure for far greater cuts. It also wants free carbon credits under the EU’s emissions trading scheme.

Other bodies such as the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Council for Sustainable Development and the Copenhagen Climate Council, represent the views of a cross section of industry, including major polluters Shell, BP, Vattenfall and ExxonMobil.

The lobbyists have been given unprecedented access to the negotiating process, according to Corporate Europe Observatory, with many businesses represented at a special UN business summit on climate change in Copenhagen in May [2].

Nina Holland continued:
“We would urge the governments negotiating in Copenhagen to open their eyes to the business agenda. We need a solution that involves making real carbon cuts in the industrial world now - not offsets and damaging technologies.”

Contact:
Nina Holland, Copenhagen + 45 5268 5295
Helen Burley, Copenhagen + 45 5399 5927


Notes:
[1] Making money out of climate change - a guide to the murky waters of lobbying in Copenhagen. Printed copies available in the Bella Center and online (including longer version) at http://www.corporateeurope.org/climate-and-energy/content/2009/12/lobby-...

[2] See Climate Summit Inc, Corporate Europe Observatory, May 2009  
http://www.corporateeurope.org/system/files/files/article/climate-summit...