Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
![Nnimmo Bassey being interviewed on Democracy Now Nnimmo Bassey being interviewed on Democracy Now, headline: This will set Africa on Fire](https://etcgroup.org/sites/www.etcgroup.org/files/styles/large/public/files/nnimmo_democracy_now.jpg?itok=RGmRfypy)
For immediate release
Tuesday, 16 November 2021
The rapidly developing existential threat posed by climate change, already recognised by peoples around the world, needs to be effectively addressed by governments. Yet COP26 officially concluded in Glasgow with little beyond flashy promises and dodgy trade initiatives. This was facilitated by the UK Presidency, which allowed the fossil fuel lobby to dominate COP26 [1] whilst excluding many others, especially from the Global South [2]. This bias inevitably contributed to the following outcomes:
- Fast-track for geoengineering as climate colonialism replaces climate denial
- High profile US/China bilateral deal also promotes geoengineering
- US/UAE initiative ‘AIM for Climate’ fires poison arrow at food and climate policy
- ‘Net Zero’ Con widely denounced including by governments
- No plans to leave fossil fuels in the ground
- Lobbyists from fossil fuel industry should be excluded from any future COPs and other climate negotiations
We need to redouble our efforts to curtail climate change in real, effective and equitable ways that protect food sovereignty and human rights. To this end, lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry, who outnumbered every delegation at COP26 [15], should be systematically excluded from any future climate COPs and other climate negotiations.
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CONTACT
ETC Group experts can be contacted for further information and quotes through:
Ronnie Hall (Sussex, England), Tel/Signal: +44 7967017281, email: ronnie@etcgroup.org
or
Laura Dunn (Montréal, Canada), laura@etcgroup.org
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FOOTNOTES
[1] The fossil fuel sector had more lobbyists present at COP26 than even the largest national delegation, and its lobbyists were included in 27 official country delegations, allowing them extensive access to COP26 and influence over the course of the negotiations. “Hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists flooding COP26 climate talks”, Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory and Global Witness, 8 November 2021,
https://corporateeurope.org/en/2021/11/hundreds-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-flooding-cop26-climate-talks
[2] Access to COP26 was deeply inequitable, with many from the Global South restricted through vaccine apartheid, constantly changing and chaotic visa arrangements, and the UK’s hostile immigration environment. Seasoned and new observers who did manage to access the COP’s ‘Blue Zone’ were also prevented from observing negotiations that they would normally have access to. See also: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/08/cop26-legitimacy-questioned-as-groups-excluded-from-crucial-talks
[3] Heads of State presentations, Accelerating Green Technology Innovation and Deployment event, World Leaders Summit, COP26, 2 November 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeWWzbqBLr0
[4] To read about the CBD de facto moratorium: https://www.etcgroup.org/sites/www.etcgroup.org/files/publication/pdf_file/ETCMoratorium_note101110.pdf
[5] US-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s, https://www.state.gov/u-s-china-joint-glasgow-declaration-on-enhancing-climate-action-in-the-2020s/
[6] Read more at: https://www.etcgroup.org/content/etc-group-and-indigenous-environmental-network-denounce-plans-geoengineering-technologies-us and https://www.etcgroup.org/content/geoengineering-and-net-zero-con-cop26
[7] AIM for Climate (aimforclimate.org) is led by the US and UAE, with the support of the UK COP26 Presidency, some 32 other countries, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization. https://www.etcgroup.org/content/big-oil-states-plan-promote-energy-hungry-agtech-climate-solution-cop26-its-time-question and https://www.aimforclimate.org/
[8] To find out more about the anticipated impacts of digitalisation in agriculture read: “Hijacking Food Systems: technofix takeover at the FSS”, ETC Group, July 2021.
[9] For more information: https://www.etcgroup.org/content/poisoned-arrow-food-and-climate-policy
[10] Read about CAN International’s Fossil of the Day awards for 3 November 2021: https://climatenetwork.org/resource/so-the-4th-of-november-is-energy-day-at-cop26-but-is-that-positive-or-negative-you-decide/
[11] More than 700 organisations from around the world have signed a statement calling for “Real Solutions, Not Net Zero” which was published 1 November 2021: https://www.realsolutions-not-netzero.org/
[12] ETC Group participated in a key civil society side event setting out “Why Big Polluters are ‘Net Zero’‘s Biggest Champion”. Speakers were: Doreen Stabinsky, College of the Atlantic; Nnimmo Bassey, HOMEF; Maureen Santos, Global Forest Coalition and Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional; Tom Wakeford, ETC Group; Scott Tully, Glasgow Calls out Polluters. Facilitator: Pascoe Sabido, Corporate Europe Observatory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGv3QCpTVtE
[13] Bolivia, speaking on behalf of the Like Minded Developing Countries said: “We still see in the text, in the document, that there are very concerning concepts that are not going to give us, to move the world in the right direction, suggesting Net Zero by 2050. We think that is a great fallacy for the world. It is impossible to achieve the 1.5 within reach in the context of Net Zero by 2050. We think that this is the great escape of developed countries, to escape from their responsibilities with climate change. Developed countries will continue using the carbon budget that belongs to the developing world and this is not fair. We need to really push developed countries not to get to Net Zero by 2050 but to achieve real reductions of emissions now...to provide a real solution to climate change.” 20211113-informal-stocktaking-plenary-by-the-president-6-b18c.mp4 (1hr 35 minutes)
[14] The final text does not mandate weaning away from coal power or the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies. It uses highly ambiguous language and qualifiers which severely limit the application of the text: “accelerating efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.” (Decision -/CP26, IV/20) Glasgow Climate Pact, 13 November 2021, COP26 cover decision,
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cop26_auv_2f_cover_decision.pdf