Fossil fuel-tied PR agency supporting U.N. Climate Conference

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day, reviewed by our editorial team. Read the full piece on DeSmog or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: PR agency Teneo is advising organisers of November's COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkey, under a $3.9 million contract filed with the US Department of Justice under foreign agent disclosure rules
• The work, which began in April, covers external messaging, media training and PR crisis management

🔭 The context: Teneo has worked with ExxonMobil, EnQuest and BHP within the past two years, and previously with ADNOC and Chevron according to DeSmog and Clean Creatives research
• It promoted COP29 host Azerbaijan as a climate champion while the country expanded oil and gas output, and earned $1.6 million advising the UAE on COP28 — paid by ADNOC through its renewables arm Masdar
• Brazil's COP30 team hired Edelman, which DeSmog found had lobbied for one of its fossil fuel clients to be chosen as the event's energy provider

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The agencies shaping how climate summits communicate are simultaneously employed by the companies whose output those summits exist to constrain
• Campaigners argue this positions polluting industries as green and essential to energy security as the stakes at COP31 are concrete

⏭️ What's next: Neither Teneo nor the COP31 team have reportedly responded to DeSmog's request for comment.
• Turkey and Australia co-host in November, tasked with breaking through years of sluggish progress
• Fossil fuel presence at these summits is substantial — 1,600 industry representatives attended COP30 in Belém, exceeded only by the host delegation and outnumbering all other national delegates combined

📈 One stat: $3.9 million — the value of Teneo's COP31 contract, disclosed under US foreign agent filing requirements.

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