Fossil fuel companies have long known about the dire impacts of their operations, and yet they have continued to expand extraction and spread climate disinformation. World governments have been negotiating to limit the worst impacts of global heating for 30 years. And the general public is well aware of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.
Yet, despite empty talk about an "energy transition", the world has never burned as much coal, oil and gas as in 2025. The climate question is not defined by evidence and rational argumentation, but by relationships of power. To protect its power from rising anti-fossil fuel sentiment, the fossil fuel industry has been scrambling to deepen its institutional capture of reputable academic, cultural and sports institutions. Through sponsorships, secondments, and collaborations, they have undertaken a public relations operation to portray themselves as "part of the solution" to the climate crisis. This narrative allows them to remain a legitimate political actor, continue exerting influence on public debate and policymaking, and delay legislative, political, cultural and social transformations to phase out fossil fuels.
In this roundtable, academics, investigative journalists and action-oriented researchers discuss their different roles and how they can work together effectively to:
- Expose the industry: Reveal the fossil fuel industry's deceptive false climate solutions and their concealed influence in our public institutions.
- Map out strategies: Develop different research-action strategies and collaborations to challenge the fossil fuel companies' "part of the solution" narrative, and reframe fossil fuel companies as actors with a structural conflict of interest in climate policy.
Join us in person at the Green Office to discuss how we can liberate our public institutions to serve the common good rather than private extractive interests. This event is open to everyone interested, please register through the link above.
This round table is organised by the Amsterdam Sustainability Institute in collaboration with Climate Obstruction NL. Right after this event, the SDG Academy on the EJAtlas follows. More information and registration here.
