how corporations rule

The document asserts that the climate crisis is exacerbated by 'corporate and elite capture' of political processes, where narrow interests from polluting industries influence governments to resist urgent economic transformation. It highlights how this influence manifests through lobbying, funding, and 'revolving doors,' and argues that underlying power imbalances created by neoliberal trade and investment liberalisation prioritise short-term corporate profits over environmental protection and human well-being. The briefing specifically critiques the trajectory of the UNFCCC and the promotion of 'false solutions' like carbon capture and storage and nuclear energy.

• The international climate negotiation process under the UNFCCC has deteriorated since COP 15 in December 2009, with countries including the US, Japan, and Canada working to dismantle the framework for legally binding emissions reductions.
• Governmental positions on climate and sustainability are increasingly 'hijacked' by corporate interests from polluting industries, which prevents the scale and speed of economic transformation required to avoid dangerous climate tipping points.
• Corporate influence leads governments to support 'false solutions' to the climate crisis—such as nuclear energy, agrofuels, carbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon trading, and large-scale geoengineering—which the document claims can make the crisis worse while providing profit and 'greenwashing' opportunities for businesses.
• The document identifies several specific mechanisms used by multinationals and financial elites to exert pressure on political decision-making, including direct funding of political parties, 'revolving doors' between public administration and the private sector, and the funding of think tanks to influence policy under a guise of academic impartiality.
• Underlying power imbalances, driven by late twentieth-century trade and investment liberalisation, have shifted economic power from national governments to multinationals, allowing the threat of relocating investments to force governments to prioritise business interests over people and the planet.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (n.d.). how corporations rule. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Corporate-Capture-intro-for-web.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. how corporations rule. n.d. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Corporate-Capture-intro-for-web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=how corporations rule |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Corporate-Capture-intro-for-web.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternationalndhow, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{how corporations rule}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Corporate-Capture-intro-for-web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }