Rome, 16 November 2024 – ReCommon strongly denounces the presence of 22 fossil fuel lobbyists in the Italian delegation attending COP29 in Baku.
As a member of the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition, ReCommon had access to confidential documents showing that there are at least 1773 ‘fossil lobbyists’ present at the climate summit underway in Azerbaijan. Alike last year’s COP28 in Dubai, significantly more fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to Baku than almost any national delegation: the 1773 fossil fuel lobbyists registered in Baku are surpassed only by the delegations sent by Azerbaijan, the host country (2229), Brazil, the host country of COP30 (1914), and Turkey (1862).
In detail, the Italian delegation include Eni, the most important Italian fossil fuel corporation, Italgas, Edison and Confindustria. The general director of Azerbaijan’s oil and gas company Socar, Azer Mammadov, is also part of the Italian delegation, demonstrating the strong ties with the country in the Caspian region, from which Italy imports the highest percentage of combined oil and gas.
Eni is present with Senior Vice President Marco Piredda and Public Affairs Director Lapo Pistelli as Chairman of the Mediteranean Energy and Climate Organisation (OMEC), a trade association in which Snam and other fossil fuel corporations also participate, which presents itself as ‘the voice of the energy industry in the Mediterranean area’.
Italgas, controlled by CDP Reti and in which Snam has a stake, is the Italian company that can count on the largest delegation in Baku: no fewer than eight people, including CEO Paolo Gallo and Italgas Reti CEO Pier Lorenzo Dell’Orco. It is no coincidence that on the sidelines of the first days of negotiations Italgas signed a commercial agreement with Azerbaijan’s Socar.
Part of the Italian delegation is also Daniele Bianchi, president of Confindustria, the main industrial association in Italy. Four representatives are registered for Edison, one of the companies purchasing gas from the Shah Deniz II gas fields, which is then transported to Italy via the TAP pipeline. Completing the total of 22 lobbyists are representatives of the Mediterranean Energy and Climate Organisation (OMEC), Seingim and Tokyo Group.
In reality, the total number of lobbyists should reach 25. The Italian delegation also includes Piero Ercoli, Domenico Maggi and Sergio Molisani, respectively Executive Director of the Decarbonization Unit, Head of EU Affairs and Chief of International Assets Officer of Snam, the Italian gas transport system operator (TSO) and among the largest in Europe. They are registered as ‘affiliated’ advisors of the Venice Sustainability Foundation, whose first objective is the development of the hydrogen valley in Marghera (a project for the development of blue hydrogen, produced through the use of fossil gas).
It should be noted that last year UN officials imposed a new rule requiring participants to explicitly disclose their affiliations – previously one could take part in COPs without declaring one’s affiliation. A rule apparently not given due consideration by Snam’s management.
‘Once again the fossil lobby, with the national champions Eni and Snam in the front row, looks at the COP as an opportunity to do business and to promote their false solutions to the climate crisis, CCS and hydrogen in primis. The massive presence in Baku is a scandal that must be stopped, ‘freeing’ the climate negotiations from the presence of fossil lobbyists,’ said Elena Gerebizza of ReCommon, one of the authors of the international report on fossil lobbyists at COP29.
A national campaign was recently launched on the issue, Clean the Cop! – Get the big polluters out of the climate negotiations: ‘The presence of a significant number of fossil fuel lobbyists at the Cops is the tip of the iceberg of a system of continuous interference of these companies’ interests in the launching of energy and climate policies even at the national level. It is a dynamic that must be denounced and stopped: this is why the Italian campaign was launched, which follows in the wake of the international initiatives Free Fossil Politics and Kick Big Polluters Out to bring the issue back into the Italian public debate, where it is still dramatically absent. Last week, as part of the European Fossil Free Politics campaign, 112 European and 15 Italian organisations simultaneously sent an Open Letter to the European Commission (https://fossilfreepolitics.org/news/112-orgs-tell-hoekstra-not-to-bring-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-to-cop29/) and to their government (https://asud.net/ultima/no-ai-lobbisti-del-fossile-alla-cop29/) to demand the removal of the climate COP badges from the fossil delegates,’ explains Marica Di Pierri, spokesperson for A Sud, one of the promoters of the campaign.
