Geo.X Grow Your Idea workshop on "Delay, dilution, and rollback - The Role of the Fossil Fuel Lobby in Obstructing Climate Policy"

Dear colleagues,

We are excited to invite you to our Geo.X workshop Delay, dilution, and rollback - The Role of the Fossil Fuel Lobby in Obstructing Climate Policy on Thursday, 3 Dec. 2026 at 10:00 to Friday, 4 Dec. 2026 at 14:00 at PIK (Hasselmann Hall).

Fossil fuel vested interests play a critical role in delaying, diluting and reversing ambitious climate policies, hindering the achievement of emissions reductions in line with the Paris Agreement. This Geo.X workshop will convene researchers and practitioners to

1. Discuss how vested interests materialise across institutions, sectors, and scales of governance to undermine effective climate policy, and
2. Examine the role of lobbying under shifting political conditions such as authoritarian backlash. We will discuss how various networks, strategies, and capital are leveraged by fossil fuel lobbyists to maintain a cultural, political, and economic status quo which risks breaching planetary boundaries and threatens human well-being.

Day 1 of the workshop will feature a series of academic and practitioner inputs followed by thematic breakout sessions in the afternoon. Offsite dinner will follow. Day 2 will feature dataset and tools, and we will discuss collaborations for future joint proposals or synthesis publications. 

The program will include academic inputs from Geo.X institutions (PIK, TU, FU, GFZ, and HU) as well as inputs from practitioners (incl. Urgewald, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, GCHA, DeSmog, Solid Sustainability Research NL, Transparency International, LobbyControl, and Law Students for Climate Accountability).

The program will be posted on the Geo.X website shortly.

Please register here by 19th November 2026. There are a limited number of meal vouchers for lunch and dinner.

With excitement and many thanks to the Geo.X „Grow Your Idea“ team,

Till Armbruster, Sophie Gepp, and Tommy Klug