It appears that Connie Hedegaard, European climate change commissioner , is concerned about the gas lobby in Europe. According to The Guardian< /a>, while the Climate Change Directorate is trying to go beyond 2020 to set binding emission reduction targets, the gas industry is trying to interfere in the emission reduction policy to introduce the so-called “shale gas” as a clean energy source. To do this, the gas lobby has been organizing high-level meetings with representatives of the commission and the European parliament, as well as with representatives of different member states; A document has even circulated presenting gas as the solution to achieve the EU’s 2050 reduction targets (Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050) , subsequently verifying that Said document is a copy of another report that precisely stated the opposite (the necessary commitment to renewables).
Last week Transparency International launched a lengthy report Global Corruption Report. Climate Change. One of its chapters analyzes the consultation processes on climate policy issues in the European Union: Equal access, unequal recognition: Business and NGO lobbying in EU climate policy (Anne Therese Gullberg,< a href="http://www.cicero.uio.no/home/index_e.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center for International Climate and Environmental Research). In 2004, the European Commission invited a number of stakeholders to participate in the process to contribute to the definition of the EU’s climate change policy beyond 2012. This process included the transcendental issue of fixing emission reduction commitments for the post-Kyoto stage. Although the consultation was open to all interested agents and a broad participation and diversity of proposals was achieved, it did not achieve a balanced distribution of participation. Trade and industry organizations pooled their resources and submitted a total of 78 proposals – more than double the 30 submissions made by environmental organizations.
Something similar happened in the consultations on the Emissions Trading Scheme (RCDE). Determining which sectors should be included or how permits should be allocated are central issues for the effectiveness of the trade regime and its role in driving a green economy in Europe; and, above all, they are issues that determine“who will win and who will lose and, therefore, are the subject of intense lobbying strategies”.
Distribution of participants by type of organization in the four consultation meetings during the EU ETS review process. The colors refer to the different topics that were addressed in the meetings. Business Europe brings together 40 industrial groups from 34 countries.
Participants from industry organizations and environmental organizations in the four consultation meetings during the EU ETS review process.
As Anne Therese Gullberg concludes, these examples show that openness does not always guarantee equal representation, and it is also important that lobbying is not limited to formal consultations.
Continuing with the Transparency International report, there is another chapter that provides an overview of lobbying influence on climate change policy in the United States(Climate policy in the United States. Overview of influence from lobbyists, Paul Blumenthal, Sunlight Foundation). As a summary of the chapter, the following graph:
Annual lobbying expenses, USA (Center for Responsive Politics)
During 2009, oil, gas, coal and power companies and renewable energy companies spent a record $403 million in lobbying activities directed at the US federal government. In total, more than 2,000 “lobbyists” are registered to lobby Washington on climate legislation.