Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

COP26 is a United Nations climate change summit but there are more than just nations represented there. More than 500 accredited people at the COP have links to the fossil fuel industry. More than 100 fossil fuel companies have representatives in attendance at the conference. There are more fossil fuel company representatives at COP than in the largest national delegation there, namely, the Brazilian delegation. The number of accredited persons with links to the fossil fuel industry is greater than the combined number in the delegations from the eight countries most affected by climate change over the past 20 years. Fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber the official indigenous constituency there by 2:1. Fossil fuel representatives are members of the official delegations from 27 nations, including Canada and Russia. Does the COP represent the nations of the world or the fossil fuel corporations of the world? Will the Taoiseach join me in saying fossil fuel corporations should be shut out of the conference and future conferences on the grounds that they are part of the problem and not part of the solution?

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