Message From the Editor

COP28 was expected to come to a close this week on Tuesday, December 28, but instead ran overtime into Wednesday, December 29, before reaching a deal. In those final hours, the oil industry was battling a push for a ‘phase-out’ deal with promises to capture carbon. Oil and gas lobbyists at COP28 have been presenting carbon capture storage as an “abatement” technology that could allow the continued burning of fossil fuels, despite the huge technical, economic and environmental challenges of deploying the technology on a scale that could curb global emissions.

Also at COP, our reporters saw triple the number of big dairy and meat representatives compared to the year before. Our analysis reveals that over 100 delegates have traveled to Dubai as part of country delegations, which grants privileged access to diplomatic negotiations. This number is up from just 10 in 2022.

Investigative reporter Cartie Werthman took a closer look at the public relations companies active at this year’s conference. Since being designated COP president in January, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who heads Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, has cycled through a dozen or so American PR companies, according to filings with the U.S. Department of Justice, which requires public disclosures from businesses seeking to influence Americans on behalf of foreign governments under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

And DeSmog revealed that social media influencers were paid to boost the UAE’s climate credentials in and around COP28 in what appears to be a coordinated PR effort by the oil-dependent host nation. Joey Grostern dove into the Instagram influencers that were paid to boost UAE’s climate credentials over COP28.

Catch up on all our other COP28 news here and stay tuned next week for more climate news.

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Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Investigative journalism like this is made possible by readers like you. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Image credit: Michael Buchsbaum.

Oil Industry Battles Push for ‘Phase-out’ Deal At COP28 With Promises To Capture Carbon

— By Michael Buchsbaum (2 min. read) —

As negotiations at the COP28 climate talks in the United Arab Emirates head into overtime, oil and gas interests are aiming to exclude a fossil fuel phase-out from any final deal by promoting carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a viable climate solution.

But as research and advocacy group Oil Change International details in a new brief, Carbon Capture’s Publicly Funded Failure, almost 80 percent of current CCS operations use captured carbon dioxide (CO2) to pump more fossil fuels out of the ground through a process known as enhanced oil recovery.

Big Meat and Dairy Delegates Triple at COP28

— By Rachel Sherrington, Clare Carlile and Hazel Healy (9 min. read) —

Lobbyists from industrial agriculture companies and trade groups have turned out in record numbers at COP28, which this year has a strong focus on tackling emissions from the food sector.

Attendees are present from some of the world’s largest agribusiness firms – such as meatpacker JBS, fertiliser giant Nutrien, food giant Nestlé and pesticide firm Bayer – and powerful industry trade groups. 

‘Inoculate From Criticism’: A Closer Look at the Public Relations Companies Active at COP28

— By Cartie Werthman (5 min. read) —

There’s only a few days to go before Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the first oil executive to preside over UN climate negotiations, brings down his gavel in Dubai.  

While COP28 delegates have been wrangling over the wording of the all-important text, DeSmog has been tracking an overlooked factor in climate diplomacy: the role of the advertising and public relations (PR) industry in shaping perceptions of key players.

Fossil Fuels Can Go Extinct — If We Take our Climate Anxieties Seriously

— By Liam Kavanaugh (5 min. read) —

The best climate news of 2023 hasn’t just just come out of closed-door diplomatic meetings. It’s been been happening in communities across the world, where climate anxiety is becoming a hot topic of mainstream conversation*. Anxiety, depression and grief around climate change aren’t pathological: They are reasonable, natural reactions to a fearsome threat that has only grown stronger since the last “breakthrough” at Paris in 2015. These feelings have been shared by the most informed people, climate scientists, for years. And while a mental health crisis might not sound like good news, this one has the potential to do what 28 Conferences of the Parties, or COPs, (including Paris or, frankly, COP28 in the United Arab Emirates) have not: spark real mobilisation in response to the climate threat. 

Instagram Influencers Paid to Boost UAE’s Climate Credentials Over COP28

— Joey Grostern (6 min. read) —

Social media influencers were paid to boost the UAE’s climate credentials in and around COP28 in what appears to be a coordinated PR effort by the oil-dependent host nation, DeSmog can reveal.

Instagram videos of glamorous couples lounging on sun-filled beaches or giving quirky outfit tutorials were used to spread positive messaging about the COP process and the UAE’s position on climate, as the critical UN talks progressed in Dubai.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Bayer

Bayer is a life sciences company headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany. Bayer has three divisions: pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science. The Bayer Group comprises 374 consolidated companies in 83 countries. Agrochemicals comprise 45.8 percent of Bayer’s annual global sales revenues. In 2021, the majority of Bayer’s sales were in the United States at 30.4 percent. Bayer has reportedly received £600 million from the UK government coronavirus pandemic bailout fund.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.