As part of the world discusses how to reduce its dependence on Russia's gas, representatives of russia's highest echelons of the fossil fuel industries are "hunting" for new business at COP27, the United Nations climate summit held in egypt's sharm el-Sheikh resort.

According to data compiled by the organizations Corporate Accountability, Global Witness and Corporate Europe Observatory, names linked to gas giant Gazprom, currently under sanctions imposed by the US and European Union (EU) in response to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the EU-sanctioned oil company Tatnef, oil company Lukoil, circulate so,  in addition to sberbank, which also faces sanctions in Washington and Brussels.

What may seem like a contradiction has proved to be a worrying trend: as the urgency of countries to implement effective measures to combat the climate emergency, caused mainly by the burning of oil, gas, and coal, also increases the offensive of lobbyists at the UN Conferences of the Parties (COPs). Russia is the world's fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the third largest supplier of oil, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia.

And what do lobbyists do? They seek to pressure decision makers to take into account the interests of a particular industrial sector or group. COP27 has more polluting industry lobbyists than representatives of the ten nations most impacted by climate extremes (Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Haiti, Philippines, Mozambique, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and Nepal).

There are 636 lobbyists from registered fossil sources, an increase of 25% compared to COP26, held in the United Kingdom, where this number was 503. Among them are leaders and representatives of global giants of the industry, such as Shell, Chevron and BP.

Russian representatives of mining company Severstal and Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, former aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska, who is currently under UK sanctions, and billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, former head of the Russian fertilizer company EuroChem, are also circulating at the meeting in Egypt.

According to The Guardian's British newspaper, in addition to Russia using climate negotiations to do business, it may also be seeking to promote unauthorized industries, such as some metals and fertilizers, which are linked to lag in global food supply and rising cost of products, especially in the global south.

Source: Um só Planeta