--- ---  # There Are More Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Than Ever at COP28  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Dec 5, 2023 5:47 PM UTC  The 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change takes place on 30 to Dec. 12 2023 in Expo City Dubai. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change takes place on 30 to Dec. 12 2023 in Expo City Dubai. Dubai, United Arab Emirates.Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto—Getty Images  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Dec 5, 2023 5:47 PM UTC More than [70,000 people](https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/conferences/un-climate-change-conference-united-arab-emirates-nov/dec-2023/about-cop-28) are gathering at the [COP28 climate conference](https://time.com/6340761/top-three-issues-at-cop28/) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this week, a temporary population larger than the permanent one that lives in [Asheville, N.C.](http://demographia.com/db-uscity98.htm) The COP28 attendees include government officials, climate scientists, climate activists, Indigenous peoples and, increasingly, [fossil fuel](https://time.com/6340659/sultan-al-jaber-oil-lobbying-cop28/) lobbyists—_a lot_ of fossil fuel lobbyists. According to the advocacy group [Kick Big Polluters Out](https://kickbigpollutersout.org/) (KBPO), the number of industry representatives pushing Big Oil’s case at this year’s U.N. Conference of the Parties (COP) has [nearly quintupled](https://kickbigpollutersout.org/release-record-number-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-attend-cop28) in the past three years. In 2021, at the [COP26 gathering](https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop26) in Glasgow, Scotland, there were 503 fossil fuel lobbyists present. That increased to 636 at [COP27](https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022, before ballooning to a whopping 2,456 this year in Dubai. According to KBPO, this year’s number easily exceeds the 1,509 passes issued to delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations combined, including [Somalia](https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/somalia/vulnerability#:~:text=Somalia%20is%20at%20risk%20to,aid%20as%20conflict%20is%20ongoing.), [Chad](https://dicf.unepgrid.ch/chad/climate-change#:~:text=Chad%20is%20one%20of%20the,and%20locust%20plagues%20%5B2%5D.), and the [Solomon Islands](https://www.preventionweb.net/news/social-dimensions-climate-change-solomon-islands#:~:text=Solomon%20Islands%2C%20like%20many%20Pacific,level%20rise%20and%20saltwater%20intrusion.). The fossil fuel industry’s outsized presence at the climate negotiations also comes as [new data](https://time.com/6342677/global-carbon-emissions-rising-2023/) show global carbon emissions continue to rise. The numbers can be crunched in other ways too—all of them unsettling. In the past 20 years, for example, representatives of major polluters have attended climate talks [more than 7,200 times](https://kickbigpollutersout.org/articles/release-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-attend-un-climate-talks-more-7000-times). This year’s claque of 2,456 lobbyists is [outnumbered only by](https://kickbigpollutersout.org/release-record-number-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-attend-cop28) the 3,081-strong delegation sent by Brazil (which is [expected to host](https://www.gov.br/planalto/en/latest-news/un-confirms-belem-is-to-host-the-cop-30-climate-conference) COP30 in 2025) and the 4,409 registered by the United Arab Emirates itself. **Read more:** [_What Happens When You Put a Fossil Fuel Exec in Charge of Solving Climate Change_](https://time.com/6335225/sultan-al-jaber-cop28-interview/) Geography plays a troubling role too. Of the top 20 trade groups attending COP28, [all come from the global north](https://kickbigpollutersout.org/articles/release-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-attend-un-climate-talks-more-7000-times), illustrating the disproportionate impact the decisions made and the actions taken by that half of the planet have on the climate health of the global south. And then, too, there is the business of demographics, with powerful—and generally older—lobbyists making decisions and wielding influence that will have their biggest impact on the generations to follow. “Oil and gas companies have spent decades delaying climate action and continue to do so at these talks in record numbers,” said George Carew-Jones, a spokesperson for the [YOUNGO](https://unfccc.int/topics/education-youth/youth/youngo) youth constituency of the [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change](https://unfccc.int/), in a [statement](https://kickbigpollutersout.org/release-record-number-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-attend-cop28). “They talk about being our saviors whilst only increasing oil and gas production and profits. The young people of the world cannot rely on therm to safeguard our future.” There Are More Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Than Ever at COP28 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6342799/fossil-fuel-lobbyists-cop28/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6342799/fossil-fuel-lobbyists-cop28/"},"headline":"There Are More Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Than Ever at COP28","datePublished":"2023-12-05T17:47:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T16:47:28.061Z","description":"The number of fossil fuel lobbyists at this year's COP28 climate conference in Dubai is nearly four times as much as last year.","url":"https://time.com/6342799/fossil-fuel-lobbyists-cop28/","keywords":["climate change","healthscienceclimate","Climate Is Everything"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45c50f2d194573ab/698a42efcabb1d3be2e5206f/cop28-climate-conference-big-oil-fossil-fuel-lobbyists.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45c50f2d194573ab/698a42efcabb1d3be2e5206f/cop28-climate-conference-big-oil-fossil-fuel-lobbyists.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"COP28 In UAE","caption":"The 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change takes place on 30 to Dec. 12 2023 in Expo City Dubai. 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