Our Polluted Politics 

We face a climate crisis that threatens the lives and safety of billions of people. Scientists are clear: there must be no new coal, oil or gas projects if we are to remain below the crucial threshold of 1.5°C of heating. 

Globally, fossil fuels cause dangerous air pollution that kills five million people every year. Fossil fuels also push up energy bills, devastate communities, and finance oppressive regimes. 

After decades spent casting doubt on climate science, oil companies are using their influence to slam the breaks on climate policy.

Undue influence

Yet the industry is still welcomed with open arms by politicians. In recent years, the government has granted hundreds of new drilling licences and given billions in subsidies to fossil fuel companies. 

In 2022, as oil prices surged following the war in Ukraine, fossil fuel companies raked in record profits while millions faced fuel poverty. When the government proposed a windfall tax on these excess profits, the industry embarked on a lobbying spree to kill the plan. Over 12 months, they met the government 211 times and successfully watered down the policy to the point of irrelevance.

Polluted parties

Today, every major political party has taken money from the fossil fuel industry. In 2022, the Conservatives alone took £3.5 million from polluters, fossil fuel interests and climate deniers.

And it’s not just oil companies: Drax, the owner of the UK's single largest source of climate pollution, a tree-burning power plant, gave £12,000 to Labour. 

Who do they work for?

Many senior ministers have financial ties to the oil industry.  Ex-Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi received £1 million from fossil fuel companies, while former Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers held £70,000 of shares in Shell, which she failed to declare. 

Even the Climate Minister, Graham Stuart, took £12,000 from oil and aviation companies to fund his election campaign. 

MPs often use their knowledge and connections to become lobbyists. Ex-Minister of State for Energy John Hayes earned £50,000 from 11 days of consultancy work for an oil firm. 

Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey accepted a luxury gala ticket from a fossil fuel firm, while BP wooed MPs Stephan Crabb, Stephen Flynn, Mike Freer, and Paul Scully with expensive tickets to Wimbledon.

The Prime Minister’s family wealth is tied to the fossil fuel industry: his wife, Akshata Murty, is a stakeholder in the IT company Infosys whose clientele includes the oil giants Saudi Aramco, Chevron, Shell and others. Sunak’s announcement of 100 new drilling licences and plans to ‘max out’ North Sea oil reserves came only two months after Infosys secured a $1.5B contract with BP.

Unelected policymakers

Money clearly opens doors. Big oil lobbyists never have trouble finding their way into government offices. Prior to handing out the North Sea oil and gas licences, Sunak, along with his climate and energy ministers, welcomed fossil fuel lobbyists every other day between January and March 2023.

Nearly 800 meetings with oil and gas representatives since 2018 show that the fossil fuel lobby has also made itself at home in Holyrood, putting pressure on Scottish decision-makers and delaying energy transition.

Just think: is your MP meeting with a fossil fuel lobbyist today?

Oily think tanks

Fossil fuel-backed think tanks are a popular lobbying tool. 

Donors linked to the climate sceptic Global Warming Policy Foundation, gave £80,000 to Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt and  Penny Mordaunt, as well as £10,000 to Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, just days before she scrapped Labour’s £28 billion green investment plan. 

Oil & gas industry think tanks have given £240,000 to All-Party Parliamentary Groups – such as those on Net-Zero, Hydrogen, and Carbon Monoxide.

Beyond the Commons

The toxic ecosystem of fossil fuel enablers extends well beyond the House of Commons. Safe from repercussions in their unelected seats, 52 peers hold hefty shares in Shell, BP, Equinor and other known climate-wrecking oil firms according to the most recent study. Among those are the Tory mega-donors Lord Farmer, Lord Spencer and Lord Choudrey.

A major cause for concern is the revolving door between the fossil fuel industry and the civil service. Over 100 people from the oil and gas sector have been appointed to top government and advisory roles since 2011. In this way, Shell’s own Chair Andrew Mackenzie also happens to chair UK Research and Innovation, overseeing research funding policy for the whole country.

Read more: Visit Fossil Free Parliament, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Transparency International,  and DeSmog.