We now know that oil and gas giant BP was told by the UK government that it will be a “key stakeholder” in the upcoming UN COP Climate Talks, to be held in Glasgow in 2021. 

BP are one of the world’s top polluters, they spend a pathetic sum on clean energy (despite deceptive advertising campaigns) and have been responsible for some of the worst environmental disasters in history. There is nothing about BP that suggests they take the climate crisis seriously. 

So, why is the UK government telling BP that they can “contribute to the COP presidency”? This grants BP a platform to pretend that they are part of the solution, and push measures that match their agenda, instead of measures that align with the science of climate change.    

The upcoming UN COP Climate Conference is crucial in determining the global response to the climate crisis. The stakes could not be higher. This also requires that the UK, as the host nation, behaves in line with the severity of the crisis. The UK Government should not grant corporations like BP the political power to determine our future. Instead, Big Polluters should be regulated by democratically accountable institutions, such as governments! 

We are calling for the UK Government to reject the presence of Big Polluters such as BP at the upcoming UN COP. And we are calling for the UK Government to push for A Conflict of Interest Policy at the 2020 Intersessionals that would remove these big polluters from future conferences. Just as we would not have tobacco companies in global health talks, we should not have big polluters determining our response to the crisis they created, and continue to profit from.