Ben Jealous: Overcoming the oil and gas industry’s influence at COP28

Getty Images Stock Photo (TriceEdneyWire.com)—Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Those of us with history in the civil rights movement know that taking on entrenched power and changing the status quo requires dogged tenacity and seizing key moments to break down barriers. The United Nations COP28 summit going on right now in Dubai could be one of those key moments for tackling the climate crisis. To ensure we truly create a better world for us all, we must include the participation of every country.& The biggest obstacle we face is the entrenched power and stubborn influence of the fossil fuel industry—the very cause of the greenhouse gas emissions which are driving global warming. The industry has had a stranglehold on international climate talks and, this year, is showing up to the conference in greater force than perhaps ever before. Hundreds of oil and gas industry lobbyists usually descend on the COP conferences. This year, by some unofficial estimates from reporters and watchdog groups, it looks like the number of lobbyists and industry representatives could be more than double what it was at last year’s COP27 in Egypt. The purpose of...