International Anti-Corruption Day 2024: Time to tackle the murky world of climate negotiations

Throughout the world, groups of young people are coming together to, in one voice, challenge corruption and fight for climate action. Transparency International is partnering with youth groups from Cambodia to the Maldives to help raise the alarm and confront the many forms of corruption in climate action, from undue influence and bribery, to embezzlement.

Every year billions of dollars are mobilised to finance initiatives that curb emissions, fund climate adaptation, and protect crucial conservation areas. But without strong anti-corruption measures in place, these essential resources are at risk of being diverted, and the current finance gap is at risk of never being closed.

We can already see evidence of this taking place. In the carbon credits market, where the inherent tension between reducing emissions and providing financial returns has led to land grabbing, bribery, projects being double-counted and the prices of carbon credits being kept secret. Last year we saw that in total over 90 per cent of carbon credits should not have been approved.

Another recent Transparency International report looked closely at the roll out of Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) funds. Again, we found a familiar story whereby critical funds, designed to support low-income countries shift away from fossil fuels, are instead being lost thanks to undue commercial influence and regulatory capture. South Africa is a prime example. According to allegations made in 2023 by Andre De Ruyter, the former CEO of Eskom - the state-owned enterprise which provides approximately 90 per cent of the country’s electricity - around a billion rand (more than US$56 million) is stolen from the entity each month, including via corruption and infrastructure theft at power stations.

The lack of transparency that lies at the heart of climate decision-making threatens to undermine our international efforts altogether, with dire consequences for people and the planet. Strengthening transparency, and rooting out corruption, is essential to realise a greener and equal world.

This year’s International Anti Corruption Day takes place just weeks after COP29, the third COP in a row to be held in a petrostate with a poor human rights record, and where undue influence curtailed meaningful progress on climate action.

Transparency International is urging leaders to recognise and ultimately tackle climate corruption to make real progress on climate action. This includes building better guard rails to safeguard key climate negotiations, and restore faith in multilateral climate diplomacy.

On International Anti-Corruption Day 2024, we call on global leaders to safeguard climate processes by providing greater transparency around how climate negotiations are being carried out. Failure to safeguard the integrity of future COPs risks undermining decisions and therefore the ability of countries to effectively address the climate crisis.

Without strong safeguards, hosting COP is at risk of being reduced to a greenwashing opportunity. Going into COP29, the risks of corruption through undue influence and fossil fuel industry capture were clear.

From the outset, Azerbaijan’s approach to organising the conference blurred the lines between government and polluting industries. Not only was the COP 29 President a former executive of Socar, the state oil company, but Socar’s president and members were involved in the organisation of the conference.

Transparency International and the Anti Corruption Data Collective’s report sounded the alarm about the unacceptable lack of protections at the world’s most important climate negotiations.

These concerns were borne out in the lack of transparency around guests attending privileged diplomacy talks at COP. Transparency International analysis revealed that half of participants at COP effectively did not disclose their affiliation to the entity that nominated them.

The analysis also revealed that 99.9 per cent of participants with Azerbaijani host country badges were categorised under the opaque ‘guest’ category. This is up from 59% at COP28.

Given the close involvement of Socar, Azerbaijan's state oil company, at this year's COP, as well as the proximity of several COP29 corporate sponsors to the first family of Azerbaijan, this raises serious questions about whether the host country was using COP as diplomatic cover to pursue conflicted interests.

However COP29 was by no means unique, and there has been a longstanding history of undue influence at COPs.

Even the historic COP21 in 2015 was not immune to fossil fuel influence, with Shell claiming to have drafted the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 wording on carbon markets. In the years since, Transparency International has documented how polluting industries have perverted the COP process: whether through Big Oil creating misleading publicity campaigns ahead of COP 24 in Poland, or through the presence of consulting groups like McKinsey & Co. who used their position to push fossil fuel interests at COP28.

For youth campaigning groups like the UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC), it is clear that COP is in urgent need of a stronger conflict of interest policy at the UNFCCC level. This is aligned with Transparency International's recommendations.

At recent COPs, we have been calling on the UNFCC to:

1. Make sure COP hosts and sponsors are chosen carefully, prioritizing countries that respect human rights, allow free expression, and are genuinely committed to climate action.

2. Put strong safeguards in place to stop conflicts of interest among hosts, sponsors, and participants from interfering with the climate discussions or decisions.

3. Guarantee unrestricted participation of civil society groups and improve transparency and accountability for everyone involved in the COP process.

For youth movements to effectively advocate for a future free from corruption, there must be unrestricted space for civil society participation at climate negotiations.

Civil society plays a vital role in scrutinising how lobbyists and private interests influence government positions at key climate talks. However, the severe suppression of civil society voices in the run up to COP29 was a stark reminder of the lack of protections in place to ensure robust civil society organisations and activists can speak freely and voice concerns.

Those in civil society who were able to attend the conference were dwarfed by participants with undeclared affiliations at COP. Transparency International analysis revealed that the majority of participants who did not disclose their guest affiliation held a National or Party badge, granting them privileged access to diplomatic talks. This opaque group represented over 20 per cent of participants at COP, ten times more than the number of NGO badge-holders at COP.

A decade on from the Paris Agreement, it is clear that we need unrestricted civil society participation and enhanced transparency and accountability rules at climate talks. The world simply cannot afford to face the consequences of failing to do so.

In 2025, both COP30 and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC CoSP11) represent significant opportunities for leaders around the world to listen to youth voices and take serious steps to address corruption and climate inaction. The announced global ethical stocktaking could go a long way and initiate cooperation between the UNFCCC and the UNCAC. This is essential to not only safeguard the integrity of climate negotiations but to realise the future that youth movements are fighting for.