Secretary-General Antonio Guterres: It's time to ban fossil fuel lobbyists from attending COPs.

There were more fossil fuel lobbyists at COP28 than any other year. Over 2,400 fossil fuel lobbyists attended COP28 in Dubai -- which is a whopping 1,820 more than attended COP27 last year. That is more delegates than the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations were allowed to bring.

In a time where every fraction of a degree of warming matters when it comes to the livelihoods and lives of the billions of people around the world who are impacted by climate change, the biggest polluters should not be allowed to take up space and disrupt negotiations.

The fossil fuel industry should have never been allowed to have a place at the annual UN climate conference, because after 20+ years of attending all they have done is stall action. That is why I am calling on the United Nations to ban fossil fuel lobbyists from attending all COPs moving forward.

2023 is officially set to be the hottest year on record as well as the year with the highest carbon dioxide emissions. Time is running out to enact enough action to limit warming to under 1.5°C, or even 2°C, and we will never get there if we continue to allow the reason we're in this mess to continue delaying action and taking up space meant for climate scientists, activists, and policymakers.