Shun fossil fuel firms by treating them like tobacco industry, EU urged

NGOs call on officials to stop meeting BP and other oil and gas producers to limit influence over climate policy

Oil and gas companies should be treated like the tobacco industry and denied routine meetings with EU officials, a group of NGOs have said, as they revealed that fossil fuel producers have enjoyed hundreds of meetings with Brussels decision makers since the Paris climate agreement.

Since 2015, six oil and gas giants, including BP and Norway's Equinor, plus fossil fuel trade bodies have held 568 meetings with top officials at the European Commission, the body responsible for drafting EU climate and energy legislation, according to research by four environmental campaign groups, including Friends of the Earth and the Corporate Europe Observatory.