Polluted Politics: Report into fossil fuel lobbying at Holyrood

Our new investigation “Polluted Politics: The fossil fuel lobby at Holyrood” is one of the largest reviews of corporate lobbying ever undertaken in Scotland.

Going back through the records starting in 2018 we found 790 meetings between the fossil fuel industry and Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs).

During an average working week at the Scottish Parliament fossil fuel companies were meeting over six MSPs, well above one every working day.

309 incidents were with MSPs who have served as Scottish Government ministers, with another 481 of big polluters meeting with backbench and opposition MSPs.

The report lays out why new rules must be created to defend climate policy from oil company influence including ending fossil fuel donations, greater transparency of meetings, and measures to exclude the fossil fuel industry from the UN climate negotiations.