Fossil fuel lobby could be forced to declare interests at UN talks

Developing countries score significant victory for greater transparency from outside parties at UN climate negotiations

A push from developing countries to force fossil fuel lobbyists taking part in UN climate talks to declare their conflicts of interest has won a significant battle against resistance from the world's biggest economies including the European Union, US and Australia.

The UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) has agreed to enhance "openness and transparency" for outside parties and will accept submissions from any stakeholder - which could be any person or group affected by climate change or climate change policy - on how it could do so.