Baku, Azerbaijan - Nearly 500 lobbyists for the carbon capture and storage industry were given access to COP29, despite ongoing questions around the technology's effectiveness and viability for climate change mitigation.

Nearly half of the 480 carbon capture lobbyists were given access as part of national delegations, according to the Guardian's investigation, meaning that they had greater access to negotiations than many of the other attendees.

A week after Azerbaijan's COP29 chief executive and deputy energy minister Enur Soltanov was revealed to have cosied up to fossil fuel investors, the Guardian reported that 55 of the carbon capture lobbyists were invited as guests of the Azerbaijani government.

On Friday, thousands of COP29 attendees were linked directly to the fossil fuel industry, triggering dismay and ridicule from environmental groups and NGOs.

"We are witnessing fossil-fuel greenwashing by those attempting to delay the inevitable fossil fuels phase-out," Rachel Kennerley, a campaigner for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), told the Guardian. "This large presence of lobbyists is a confirmation that the carbon capture industry is working hard to promote the misguided [carbon capture] technology."

While the technology is unproven and in its infancy, it is increasingly mentioned in states' and companies' strategies as an alternative to ending the use of fossil fuels.

"The significant number of CCS lobbyists at COP29 highlights the fossil fuel industry’s substantial investment in attempting to secure its future, despite the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels," Kennerley said.