The majority of the meetings were with ministers in the Department of Energy Security & Net Zero and HM Treasury
Last summer – the hottest on record – fossil fuel lobbyists were busy closing in on our new government. Our independent analysis has found that they had a staggering 104 ministerial meetings across departments from July to September 2024, Labour’s first three months in power.
BP and Shell took up more of the ministers’ time than any other fossil fuel lobbyist, attending 24 meetings between them. Offshore Energies UK (OEUK, the leading industry lobby group), Equinor, and Eni came in a close joint third, accessing 10 meetings each.
The transparency data provides only a very brief description about what was discussed in each meeting. From that, we can see that the Energy Profits Levy – a.k.a. the Windfall Tax – was on the table in at least 10 of these meetings.
So far, Labour has stood firm in its commitment to increase the Windfall Tax on oil and gas industry profits – despite the industry’s best efforts to scaremonger about its impact. But, as we revealed back in 2023, industry body Offshore Energies UK and others have successfully lobbied to weaken the windfall tax before. Labour must not give them the opportunity to do so again.
Another hot topic was the landmark Finch case, which ruled that emissions from burning fossil fuels must be counted when granting planning permission for new fossil fuel projects. Offshore Energies UK, Shell, Equinor and the North Sea Transition Authority all met with Ed Miliband to “discuss the implications” of the Supreme Court decision. It’s since been revealed that OEUK wrote to the government to complain about how “unfair” the ruling is.
104 meetings across three months is more than once every working day. As the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis looms, and more and more oil and gas majors slash and scrap their renewable energy investments, it is totally inappropriate for fossil fuel lobbyists to have any opportunities to influence policy in its favour – let alone every day. Fossil Free Parliament calls on the UK’s policymakers to rapidly and effectively restrict all engagement with the fossil fuel industry to only that which is absolutely necessary to force the industry to shut down its fossil fuel operations.
If you would like to see our analysis of the meetings data, or have any questions, please email us at info@fossilfreeparliament.uk.