Low business engagement with COP29 risks a lost year; sustainability needs positive lobbying

The world can’t wait until COP30. But many are, including in the private sector. COP29, the 2024 edition of the annual UN climate summit held in Azerbaijan, saw a dramatic reduction in business engagement. This was particularly true of the businesses—and, vitally, their people—that could make a positive contribution. Fossil fuel lobbyists didn’t go anywhere (see Exhibit 1).

The absence of many world leaders and political ambition at COP29 puts the onus on businesses to collectively contribute to policy and lobby positively all year for the measures needed to address the climate and broader sustainability emergency. They can’t pick and choose to participate only when a “sexy COP” comes around. Many are treating 2025’s COP30 in Brazil as the next milestone. Our environment, people, and economies can’t afford to lose a year of ambition and action.

Corporate sustainability leaders, their CEOs, and boards across all sectors must do better

In an open letter, various senior climate figures claimed the COP talks are “no longer fit for purpose”—although they mostly acknowledge that COPs are better than nothing. Sustainability needs a new level of positive lobbying by business leaders—sustainability and otherwise—in as many circles as possible. Take three measures as a starting point:

1. Aligned transition plans and separation from the negative connotations of “lobbying”: Businesses should advocate for a mix of incentives and tariffs that align with the global sustainability context (see our outline). Starting with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as guiding endpoints for those transition plans, a mission-driven approach will resonate with policymakers and help dispel the motivations behind your business’s advocacy. Successful, positive input to policymaking will also help to combat the negative influence of firms, industries, and politicians who resist sustainability.
2. Ecosystems focused on outcomes: Lobby for multi-stakeholder collaboration that includes diverse civil society and subject-matter experts—and find a clear sphere of influence that contributes to systemic sustainability change and the policy tools needed to embed sustainability throughout your business. Tweaking siloed policies isn’t enough. Bring your entire ecosystem of clients and partners to the collaboration where possible—and where you trust the people and companies involved to share the same end goals.
3. Lobby for certainty and phased implementation and build phased regulation roadmaps: A phased transition aiming for positive outcomes will be better for everyone than a frantic reaction to harsh penalties when no other policy option exists. When the tipping points on sustainability arrive and regulators come down hard, public perception will shift unforgivingly, and businesses will have to adapt. In that scenario, who will customers, regulators, and partners reward? Those who ambitiously set the new sustainable standard—or who resisted change?

Fossil fuel lobbyists are filling the void left by businesses from other sectors

Unlike the clear business presence at past COPs, the usual swathes of enterprises and their consulting, technology, and services partners were absent in Baku in 2024. The overall summit attendance was roughly 50,000 compared with 85,000 in Dubai in 2023. However, that 42% reduction in overall attendance was met with only a 28% reduction in fossil fuel lobbyists (at least 1,773 were present).

Exhibit 1: Fossil fuel lobbyists are not going anywhere despite a smaller overall COP29—sustainability desperately needs positive lobbying

Source: Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) and The Guardian; The New York Times and Nature

The lack of positive input and ambition culminated in a dreadfully inadequate deal to provide climate finance to countries dealing with the worst immediate impacts of the climate and sustainability emergency. A hastily approved international standard for carbon markets at the summit’s start was an improvement, but it satisfied very few.

Transition plans and broader disclosure requirements are coming rapidly

Businesses should stop complaining about the risks and uncertainty of corporate climate and sustainability action—we know where we need to go (refer back to our outline). And from a legal perspective, the number of regulations and standards keeps growing yearly. The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) recently published its final report, which does a terrific job of capturing the state of play and future view.

Businesses should take sustainability into their own hands and be the solution that brings the ecosystem together, closes gaps, and aligns transition plans and roadmaps to share risk toward outcomes. The long-term mission hasn’t changed despite the turbulence we have and will continue to experience through the coming waves of geopolitical instability.

Fears of greenwashing kept many businesses away from COP29, another climate summit held in a petrostate—ignoring the still vast global demand for fossil fuels

When speaking directly to companies that either chose not to attend COP or sent a quiet, much-reduced delegation, it wasn’t only the lack of perceived value that kept them away—but the fears of being tarnished by the host nation’s oil and gas dominated economy.

When the final deal was struck, Azerbaijan’s presidency of the summit and the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists were criticized. But COP failures don’t mean companies and countries can’t go much, much further. And many are.

Our pre-COP29 report argues that the “greenlash” against sustainability is largely a perception due to loud political rhetoric. Trump’s re-election will, however, significantly impact sustainability in the oil and gas industry. But globally, businesses are increasing their sustainability spending and plan to continue. Even large corporations such as Microsoft and BlackRock, which are dampening their sustainability language, have made it clear that their strategies remain unchanged.

The Bottom Line: Sustainability done right will mean positive outcomes for people and economies worldwide.

COP29—and most previous summits—failed to achieve the level of ambition and action required by the climate and sustainability emergency. That ongoing failure only serves to clarify that leadership must come from the countries—and the business leaders within them—that contributed the most to the emergency rather than blaming more than 200 countries for trying to achieve what they think is best for their politics—and sometimes for their people.