In this year's gleaming host city of Dubai, billboards advertise the benefits of wind energy, climate ambition and Exxon Mobil's (XOM.N) carbon capture projects.
This is seen by some as a sign of success and by others as a dangerous distraction from the business of combating climate change as over nearly three decades global oil demand, carbon emissions and temperatures have marched steadily upward.
"It's a lobby fest where polluters can schmooze with politicians, all under the guise of tackling climate change," Pascoe Sabido, a researcher at the Corporate Europe Observatory, which scrutinizes corporate influence on policy-making, said.
Delegates walk at the Dubai's Expo City during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 4, 2023.
For daily comprehensive coverage on COP28 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here.
Persons:
Exxon Mobil's, Pascoe Sabido, Alden Meyer, Meyer, Lisa Jacobson, Jacobson, Thaier, We're, –, Daniel Lund, Joko Widodo, COP28, Jake Schmidt, Darren Woods, General Antonio Guterres, Al Gore, Valerie Volcovici, Katy Daigle, Kate Abnett, Sarah McFarlane, Bernadette Christina, Richard Valdmanis, Alexander Smith
Organizations:
Exxon, Corporate, Observatory, United Nations, Business Council, Sustainable Energy, Global Strategic Communications Council, Change, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, Natural Resources Defense, Exxon Mobil, Drillers, U.S, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
DUBAI, Dubai, Berlin, The Hague, COP28, United Arab, Fiji, Indonesia, China, UAE