At the start of the preliminary negotiations for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland in December 2018, the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament today published a study on climate policy and the revolving door. In 14 country analyses, the authors reveal how former chancellors, prime ministers, members of parliament and high-ranking government employees influence the climate policy of the European governments from new positions in energy companies such as Gazprom, Evonik and RAG AG.
MEP Sven Giegold, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for transparency, accountability and integrity, commented:
“The EU governments must make the Paris climate targets a public interest, not lucrative follow-up activities for former prime ministers and state secretaries. When the energy giants undermine climate policy, something is rotten in the states of the EU. Conflicts of interest between politicians and energy suppliers seriously jeopardise the transition to clean energy. Federal Environment Ministers must advocate a zero-tolerance policy against conflicts of interest in the United Nations Climate Convention. We need stricter rules for waiting periods of at least three years and strong sanctions for non-compliance. For a credible ethical system, the decision on cases of doubt must be taken by an independent institution, not by ministers over ex-colleagues, and all decisions must be open to public scrutiny“.
The Green study on the revolving door in climate policy:
https://www.greens-efa.eu/files/doc/docs/3d2ec57d6d6aa101bab92f4396c12198.pdf