Representatives of the fossil fuel sector have a strong presence in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, Euronews reports.

According to a report by the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, a body of 450 NGOs, up to 1,773 lobbyists traveled to Baku for the United Nations climate conference.

What's even more head-scratching is that 113 of them were accompanying various European national government delegations.

"Greece led the way with 24, while Italy had 22," explained Marcella Via of Corporate Europe Observatory, a member of the coalition, followed by Sweden (17) and Belgium (13).

She adds that "Greece and Italy are the countries that buy the most gas from Azerbaijan. It is therefore not surprising that they have so many fossil fuel lobbyists."

On the other hand, however, the report also points out that the European Commission did not include any lobbyists from the sector in its delegation, unlike last year’s COP28 in Dubai.

At his hearing in early November, the European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoestra "received increasing pressure from civil society not to bring in any fossil fuel lobbyists," Marcella Via points out.

Also at his hearing before the MEPs, Hoestra said that "he would support the policy on the fight against conflict of interest at United Nations climate negotiations. And we really, really hope that he will keep his word," she continued.

The 1,773 lobbyists that have travelled to Azerbaijan's capital represent companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Eni, and TotalEnergies.