All posts tagged: lobbyists

A muted COP29 in Azerbaijan: Heavy on lobbyists, light on commitments

A muted COP29 in Azerbaijan: Heavy on lobbyists, light on commitments

Published by Sam

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, November 15: US President-elect Donald Trump has mooted bypassing Senate approval for his major appointments – we take a look at the press backlash. In other news: COP29 continues, but without the Argentinian delegation and with activists far outnumbered by oil, gas and coal lobbyists. Finally, National Geographic scientists have found the world’s largest coral reef off the Solomon Islands, a discovery they hope will inspire more global action to protect the corals. Source link

Make ministers declare WhatsApp contact with lobbyists, MPs say | Lobbying

Make ministers declare WhatsApp contact with lobbyists, MPs say | Lobbying

Published by skeptic

Ministers should have to publicly declare contact from lobbyists on WhatsApp or face a ban on its use on official government devices, a committee of MPs has said. The public administration committee said current transparency measures did not command public confidence, as a result of the Greensill scandal over David Cameron’s private lobbying of ministers on behalf of his employer. The cross-party committee said WhatsApp encounters between ministers and lobbyists should be transparently declared in the same way as meetings and other forms of contact. “If WhatsApp and other non-corporate communication channels [NCCCs] are to be used in government, and in particular if they are to be used to communicate with third parties, then they should be subject to the same disclosure regime as other forms of contact,” the committee said. “Where exchanges by means of NCCCs are in place of a face-to-face meeting or prompt significant consideration in government, they warrant inclusion in the government transparency releases. If an appropriate transparency regime cannot be found that can command public confidence, which we consider the …

Developed countries accused of bowing to lobbyists at plastic pollution talks | Plastics

Developed countries accused of bowing to lobbyists at plastic pollution talks | Plastics

Published by skeptic

Campaigners are blaming developed countries for capitulating at the last minute to pressure from fossil fuel and industry lobbyists, and slowing progress towards the first global treaty to cut plastic waste. Delegates concluded talks in Ottawa, Canada, late on Monday, with no agreement on a proposal for global reductions in the $712bn (£610bn) plastic production industry by 2040 to address twin issues of plastic waste and huge carbon emissions. They agreed to hold more discussions before the last summit on the treaty in Busan, South Korea, in November. But two years on from a historic agreement in Nairobi to forge a global treaty to cut plastic waste, delegates said countries were just wasting time. A proposal from Peru and Rwanda to address for the first time the scale of plastic production in order cut waste was supported by 29 countries including Australia, Denmark, Nigeria, Portugal, the Netherlands and Nigeria, who signed a declaration, “the Bridge to Busan”, calling on all delegates to ensure plastic production was addressed. The UK and US did not support the …

‘Privileged access’: pro-plastic lobbyists at UN pollution talks increase by a third | Plastics

‘Privileged access’: pro-plastic lobbyists at UN pollution talks increase by a third | Plastics

Published by skeptic

The number of fossil fuel and petrochemical industry lobbyists has increased by more than a third at UN talks to agree the first global treaty to cut plastic pollution, analysis shows. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels via a chemical process known as cracking, and 196 lobbyists from both industries are at the UN talks in Ottawa, Canada, where countries are attempting to come to an agreement to curb plastic production as part of a treaty to cut global plastic waste, according to analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (Ciel). The 196 lobbyists registered for the talks represent a 37% increase from the 143 lobbyists registered at the last talks, in Nairobi. This in turn was a 36% increase on the previous year’s number. Increased plastic production is a major part of the fossil fuel industry’s plans for the future, and any attempts to curb production, such as those being discussed at the UN talks, are an obvious threat to their profits. According to Carbon Tracker, BP expects plastics to represent 95% …

In the Kansas House, when lobbyists ask for new laws, their names go on the bills

In the Kansas House, when lobbyists ask for new laws, their names go on the bills

Published by skeptic

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — For years, pinning down the source of a bill in the Kansas Legislature could be a chore for lawmakers’ constituents. Committees sponsor almost 85% of the proposals, so finding the group or lobbyist responsible could require questioning multiple lawmakers or, in recent years, reviewing YouTube videos of meetings. But this year, the Kansas House is making it a little easier for the state’s residents to find out who wants what from its members. Besides a number and official sponsor, each bill now lists who asked for it, be it a lawmaker at someone else’s request or an individual lobbyist for a specific client. The change started in January. It’s an unusual move for any state legislature. While at least a handful of states require lobbyists to list specific bills of interest to them in reports open for public inspection, the Council of State Governments knows of no other state legislative chamber that’s actually listing lobbyists and groups on its bills — not even the Kansas Senate. “I’m thrilled to see it,” …

Kari Lake woos D.C. lobbyists as Arizona Senate race heats up

Kari Lake woos D.C. lobbyists as Arizona Senate race heats up

Published by skeptic

Arizona Republican Senate Candidate Kari Lake speaks with reporters after leaving the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Capitol Hill on March, 6 2024 in Washington, DC.  Kent Nishimura | Getty Images Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake has been quietly meeting with lobbyists and raising money in Washington in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Lake has built her political brand around her willingness to buck the D.C. establishment wing of the GOP. On Tuesday, Lake met with about a dozen lobbyists in the nation’s capital, and the following day she attended a campaign fundraiser that was heavy with D.C. hired guns. Lake also met separately with a top GOP lobbyist recently to strategize how to get her in front of even more industry players, according to sources familiar with the meeting. Like others in this story, they were granted anonymity to describe private events. The Arizona Senate race is poised to be one of the most competitive and high profile contests in the nation this fall. President …

Amazon lobbyists face ban from European Parliament – POLITICO

Amazon lobbyists face ban from European Parliament – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

“The matter can be reconsidered if Amazon shows [a] willingness to cooperate, in particular at the request of the employment committee,” Pîslaru said, a point Kolaja confirmed was included in the note presented at the quaestors’ meeting — “sufficient willingness.” Amazon representatives were invited to attend an employment committee hearing on “Working Conditions in Amazon Warehouses” on Jan. 23, but did not show up, claiming that the notice of about a month had been too short. The committee wrote a letter to Parliament President Roberta Metsola asking that the company’s lobbyists be denied access to the institution. “It is unreasonable for members to be lobbied by Amazon while at the same time being deprived of the right to represent the interests of European citizens and inquire about claims of breaches of fundamental rights enshrined in EU Treaties and EU labor laws,” the letter said. “We are very disappointed with this decision, as we want to engage constructively with policymakers,” Amazon spokesperson Sarah Tapp said in a statement, adding that the company had “on several occasions …

New York lobbyists ‘aiding and abetting’ climate crisis, research reveals | New York

New York lobbyists ‘aiding and abetting’ climate crisis, research reveals | New York

Published by skeptic

New research reveals that dozens of New York universities, hospitals, museums and non-profits are employing lobbyists that also work for fossil fuel companies, which some say is blatantly “aiding and abetting” climate crisis. New York’s wealthiest lobbying firms work double-duty in the state capital, representing the political interests of both the victims and perpetrators of the climate crisis, according to a new report from F Minus, a database of state-level lobbying disclosures released last year, and LittleSis, a project created by the non-profit corporate and government accountability watchdog Public Accountability Initiative. The report analyzed the client rosters of six of the top lobbying firms in New York, revealing how the state’s cultural, business and educational leaders – many of whom tout their commitment to slowing climate crisis – are quietly linked to the fossil fuel industry. New York University, which proudly pledged to divest its $5bn endowment from coal, oil and gas companies last year, shares its lobbyists with six fossil fuel companies, including Valero and National Grid. Diagram of colored pill-shapes. A green pill …

Big meat and dairy lobbyists turn out in record numbers at Cop28 | Cop28

Published by Sam

Lobbyists from industrial agriculture companies and trade groups have turned out in record numbers at Cop28, with three times as many delegates representing the meat and dairy industry as last year. Representatives are present from some of the world’s largest agribusiness companies – such as the meat supplier JBS, the fertiliser giant Nutrien, the food giant Nestlé and the pesticide company Bayer – as well as powerful industry lobby groups. Meat and dairy are particularly well-represented with 120 delegates, but an analysis of the list of delegates by DeSmog shows that the number of lobbyists representing the interests of agribusiness more broadly have more than doubled since 2022 to reach 340. In addition, the analysis reveals that more than 100 delegates have travelled to Dubai as part of country delegations, which grants privileged access to diplomatic negotiations. This number is up from 10 in 2022. Meat and dairy firms in particular are coming under increasing scrutiny due to pollution from livestock, which emits about a third of the global output of methane, a short-lived greenhouse …

Ron DeSantis’s Prolific (Legal) Corruption

Ron DeSantis’s Prolific (Legal) Corruption

Published by skeptic

By this stage in the presidential campaign, much has been made of the severely conservative politics of Ron DeSantis. Voters have also become well acquainted with what a clumsy campaigner he is. But those two facts have perhaps eclipsed a third essential characteristic of the Florida governor: the astonishing sweep of his (apparently legal) corruption. DeSantis has demonstrated a prolific ability to use the power of government to raise money and reap other perks while working to shield that behavior from public view. “I could sell golf for $50k this morning,” one DeSantis aide wrote to others in 2019, in an email obtained by The Washington Post and published over the weekend. It was part of a broader strategy: Once DeSantis took office, his aides made a list of 40 lobbyists with a goal of raising millions for the governor’s political-action committee and other funds. For the golf scheme, the idea was to get a lobbyist to shell out, using his client’s cash, to play a round with DeSantis and his wife, Casey. Experts told …