Outrage over Coca-Cola as sponsor of climate conference

14-Nov-2022 - Egypt

Health organizations and environmentalists are outraged that Coca-cola is one of the main sponsors at the UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt. An open letter from 60 health organizations to the United Nations says: "Coca-Cola is the world's largest plastic polluter, whose products are linked to obesity, poor dental health and non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes."

Friday's letter went on to say that in the future, the UNFCC climate secretariat must limit the influence of all companies at climate conferences that harm the environment and health. "It is incompatible with the goals of climate change negotiations for corporate representatives to be given such a prominent platform for greenwashing their reputations." Greenwashing refers to strategies by which companies or countries untruthfully portray themselves as particularly environmentally friendly.

For decades, fact-based health policies have been blocked, delayed and undermined by the tobacco and alcohol industries, among others, as well as by manufacturers of ultra-processed foods, the statement added. Signatories include the World Obesity Society, the Health Climate Network and the George Institute for Global Health, among others.

Environmental Justice Foundation environmentalists wrote on Twitter, "Coca-Cola's plastic pollution stretches along beaches, covers the ocean, and chokes unique wilderness. They have no place at COP27." He said it was time to exclude "polluters" from climate negotiations.

Environmentalists reacted indignantly the day before to a data report that 636 lobbyists for oil, gas and coal were registered at the mammoth meeting - 25 percent more than last year in Scotland. The environmental organization Global Witness and the Corporate Europe Observatory calculated that the fossil fuel industry is more strongly represented in Egypt with lobbyists than the ten states most affected by the impending climate catastrophe.

According to the German Environment Ministry, forecasts predict that plastics consumption will more than double by 2060. The biggest drivers, according to the report, are the packaging, automotive and construction industries. The amount of plastics in oceans could increase almost fivefold in the aforementioned period./toz/DP/ngu (dpa)

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1178466/outrage-over-coca-cola-as-sponsor-of-climate-conference.html