A forum will be held on the sidelines of the UN climate summit and it is expected to see discussions on methods of how to influence fossil fuel companies to take environmentally friendly decisions in their negotiations. Environmentalists and government representatives as well as senior executives from big oil companies including BP, Shell and Chevron will be present at the invitation-only forum in New York. It is reported that forum will hold a ‘closed high-level discussion.’ 

The UN climate summit will take place on the 23rd of September. On its website, the UN explains that the summit will try to ‘to boost ambition and accelerate actions to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.’ UN secretary general António Guterres have invited ‘governments, the private sector, civil society, local authorities and other international organizations to develop ambitious solutions in six areas a global transition to renewable energy; sustainable and resilient infrastructures and cities; sustainable agriculture and management of forests and oceans; resilience and adaptation to climate impacts; and alignment of public and private finance with a net zero economy.’

Group chief executive of BP and chair of the industry-led Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) and chair of the OGCI steering committee, Bob Dudley and Jérôme Schmitt respectively said, ‘This will be an opportunity to speak personally with the CEOs and share your thoughts on OGCI’s progress and commitments over the last year.’ 

In  addition, Corporate Accountability’s Taylor Billings described the forum as ‘an opportunity for some of the world’s biggest polluters to greenwash,’ adding on to say, ‘By holding this event just steps from the UN summit, the OGCI is attempting to appear as part of the solution and gain further influence over policymaking.’ 

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