Caroline Lucas Calls for Fossil Fuel Industry to be 'Kicked Out' of Paris Climate Negotiations

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Fossil fuel companies should be โ€œkicked outโ€ of the climate negotiations in Paris at the end of this month, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has told the House ofย Commons.

Her comments were made during a questioning session with the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Amber Rudd, in parliament on Thursdayย afternoon.

Lucas said: โ€œFor over 20 years governments have met, yet greenhouse gas emissions have not decreased and the climate keeps changing. The forces of inertia and obstruction prevail, the fossil fuel giants and the politicians who do their bidding are responsible. And thatโ€™s why I call for the fossil fuel lobby to be kicked out of the UN climateย negotiations.โ€

The Brighton Pavilion MP also emphasised the importance of divestment from fossil fuel companies, particularly parliamentโ€™s own pension fund, and criticised the government in general for its recent environmental policies including tax breaks for offshore oil and gas production and the removal of solar energyย subsidies.

She warned that policies like these will weaken the UKโ€™s credibility on climate change. Lucas said: โ€œInternational leadership has to depend on domestic action at home otherwise it has absolutely no credibility and that is where I fear this Secretary of State is letting us down.โ€ย ย 

COP21 Corporateย Coup

Lucasโ€™s words were echoed in a damning report issued earlier this week criticising the infiltration of big energy companies into climate negotiations since they began decadesย ago.

The report by the Corporate European Observatory (CEO) argues that โ€œthe market-based and techno-fix solutions on the table are diverting attention from the real culprits and delaying realย action.โ€

They also claim that politicians have chosen measures that โ€œsuit existing business models and continued corporate profit makingโ€ which has largely been down to strong corporateย lobbying.

Recent examples cited in the report include lobbying by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. Their current president, who is from Renault-Nissan (a COP21 sponsor) has consistently fought against tougher car emissions targets and been instrumental in delaying new testing procedures on behalf of its members โ€“ including Volkswagen, who used to chair theย group.

This year’s talks are also sponsored by some of Franceโ€™s โ€œdirtiest corporationsโ€. This includes Air France, nuclear and coal giant EDF, energy utilities company Engie (formerly GDF Suez) and coal-financing bank BNPย Paribas.

The report also looked to dispel the myth that gas is the clean alternative to dirty fossil fuels. It explains that the extraction process, particularly fracking, can be even worse for the climate than coal due to methaneย leakage.

Furthermore, the report states that focusing on gas means less attention is paid to proper clean energy solutions and it allows oil and gas companies to โ€œremain in the driving seatโ€ for future climateย negotiations.

Cleaning upย Negotiations

For these reasons, the report concludes that the big energy companies have already captured theย negotiations.

A โ€œfundamental change in approachโ€ is therefore needed in order to make for truly significant negotiations itย says.

CEO proposes that climate negotiations should follow the example of the World Health Organization, which introduced a firewall between public health officials and the tobacco industry, in order to effectively tackle the effects of smoking.ย ย 

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Ben Lucas is currently pursuing an Investigative Journalism Masterโ€™s degree at the City University of London. He has a particular interest in UK and international politics, economics and environmentalย issues.

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