The Guardian found that at least a dozen IPCC lead authors are employed by or linked to Saudi Aramco, Saudi institutions, and other oil and gas interests, including Mustafa Babiker, an Aramco employee appointed as a coordinating lead author for the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. The investigation reviewed the 223 lead authors of working group III, which assesses emissions reductions and is directly relevant to energy-sector interests, and identified 20 cases with strong conflict-of-interest concerns. Another Aramco employee on the list is Dr Diego Armando Moya Pinta, whose IPCC affiliation is listed as Imperial College London while he has worked at Aramco since 2022 and serves as one of 14 lead authors on the chapter on energy systems. One IPCC vice-chair named in the investigation is a government employee who represents Saudi Arabia at global climate negotiations. Experts who reviewed the Guardian investigation described the IPCC’s conflict-of-interest policy as not fit for purpose. The findings have prompted experts to call for stronger conflict-of-interest rules and renewed scrutiny of how authors with fossil fuel ties are selected for future assessment reports.
