Financing Inaction

The Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, a network of 130 European Environmental and Development NGOs, released a report October 25 claiming that there is a coordinated effort on the part of several European companies to influence the United States’ climate and energy policies through targeted donations to political candidates who oppose action on climate.

The report, Think Globally, Sabotage Locally, says that in 2010 Lafarge, GDF-SUEZ, EON, BP, BASF, Bayer, Solvay and Arcelor-Mittal (all with a track record as big emitters of carbon emission) gave$306,100 (€219,347) to US senators who denied the science of climate change or who were blocking climate change legislation.

What’s more Tom Wyns, CAN-Europe’s Senior Policy Officer says, “these European polluters fund anti climate crusaders in the US while simultaneously fighting against strong climate legislation in Europe.”     

CAN-Europe says that these companies make up between five to ten per cent of carbon emissions in Europe. It argues that this funding serves not only to block cap and trade legislation in the US but also to block further climate action policy in Europe.

Wyns says, “based on the false premise that the EU can’t make meaningful emissions cuts without the US on board” companies have been lobbying against emissions reduction policy in Europe, through collectives like Business Europe and the Alliance for a Competitive European Industry.

In October, Business Europe told the President of the European Council that further increases to carbon emissions reduction targets in Europe “would be premature and even counterproductive” until other economies like the US catch up and start taking “strong action”.

CAN-Europe is calling for an immediate and clear response from the companies involved and the European Business Federations that lobby on their behalf, such as Business Europe, CEFIC, EUROFER, CEMBUREAU, EURELECTRIC and EUROPIA.

Adding insult to injury, the report also accuses the firms of hypocrisy. It says that while funding to “sabotage” climate action on a global scale the culprits have been boasting about their commitment to reducing their environmental impact.

“Innovative solutions developed by BASF contribute to protecting our climate,” said a spokes person from BASF earlier this year but CAN-Europe says the German company emitted 8 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2008 and gave $61,550 (€44,139) to American anti-climate action senators.

The report used publically available campaign finance records, attained through the Open Secrets database, to track which senators top polluting European companies have been supporting during the 2010 US Senate race.   

According to its key findings $107,200 (€76,823) went to senators who deny that climate change is happening or that it’s man made; $240,200 (€172,170) went to senators who had blocked climate action legislation in the Senate.