We all know that big companies spend a fortune on lobbying. More than 5,000 fossil fuel lobbyists gained access to the COP climate summit that concluded this week in Brazil.
Here in the UK, government transparency data shows that oil and gas lobbyists met with ministers 500 times in the first year of Labor's term.
What is much more difficult to discover is What these lobbyists lobby and how they do it.
That's why, for almost two years, Democracy for Sale has been waging a major legal battle to force the government to reveal how some of the world's biggest carmakers secretly pressured ministers to weaken climate policy.
And now we have won.
Newly released documents show how Toyota and Aston Martin managed to woo a climate-skeptic Tory minister as they pushed to delay the phase-out of petrol engines by 2030.
Shortly after those meetings, ministers announced that the gasoline phase-out would be pushed back to 2035 and that smaller carmakers would be exempt from changes that benefited Toyota and Aston Martin respectively.
We first requested records of meetings between the then Welsh Secretary, David TC Davies, and car manufacturers in December 2023, under freedom of information laws. After repeated refusals, we took the case to the Information Court and ultimately won.
In a decision formulated firmlyJudge Marks noted the considerable public interest in combating the existential threat of climate change and emphasized the importance of carefully examining potential greenwashing.
It also reaffirmed a fundamental democratic principle: the government can be held accountable for its words and promises behind closed doors.
This marks democracy for sales fourth consecutive victory in the information court this year. Published documents appear at the end of this article.
Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said our case revealed the backdoor channels through which corporate money hijacks our democracy. The best antidote is transparency.
David TC Davies was once among the most climate-sceptical voices on the Conservative benches. An amateur boxer known as Conservative tornadohe railed against the supposedly scientific consensus on climate change, fighting with BBCTHE Met Office and even the rock band The 1975.
By 2023, Davies' position had changed. He has publicly supported net zero emissions and visited low carbon projects in Wales, where he was Secretary of State.
But he remained receptive to industry concerns. In May 2023, Davies met with Toyota to discuss the Conservatives' proposal to ban new petrol-engined cars from 2030. The policy, initially set by Boris Johnson's government, threatened the Japanese giants' lucrative hybrid range, including the Prius.
Toyota asked Davies to extend the hybrid until 2035, according to the meeting note. Davies said he would support them in any way possible, including writing to other ministers.
A month later, Aston Martin requested an exemption for small volume manufacturers. Davies agreed with Aston Martin that carmakers producing fewer than 2,500 vehicles a year should be excluded and promised to raise the issue with the Department for Transport.
In September 2023, just months after these meetings, the Conservative government announced that hybrids could be sold until 2035, and that small car manufacturers would be exempt. The new Labor government has since gone even further, explicitly name-checking the Toyota Prius in its policy announcement.
Toyota has been labeled as a aggressive lobbyist and was ranked among the most negative influence global companies on climate policy.
Greenpeace Doug Parr said the documents show lobbyists manipulating government decisions crucial to the health and well-being of citizens for private gain.
Davies told us that speaking to major employers in Wales, including Aston Martin and Toyota, was one of my responsibilities.
The former Welsh secretary who lost his seat last year and now runs a political consultancy added that he was pleased the government had finally recognized that supporting Welsh manufacturing jobs was more important than pandering to radical anti-motor campaigners.
Toyota and Aston Martin did not respond to requests for comment.
At the time of our initial request, almost two years ago, climate action had broad political support. Now Labor has abandoned its 28 billion green investment pledge, Reform UK is promising to drill, baby, drill, and the Conservatives want to abandon the net zero emissions targets they once championed.
But the British courts still recognize the issue.
Judge Marks noted that many of the companies involved can reasonably be seen to have contributed to climate change through their emitting activities. It is, she said, of great public interest to know whether ministers were privately urged to change their policies in a way which was favorable to them.
The Tribunal also ordered the publication of documents relating to Davies' meetings with oil major Shell and a controversial carbon capture program backed by Ineos, Eni and Essar Oil UK.
Our case was brought under the Environmental Information Regulations, which form part of the FOI Act. Democracy for Sale was represented by Julia Eriksen, Rowan Smith and Lily Hartley Matthews of Leigh Day, with solicitors Alex Goodman KC and Alex Shattock of Landmark Chambers.
Leigh Days Eriksen welcomed the decision but said it would not have been appropriate for a judge at the Wales Office Tribunal to respond adequately to an application regarding such an important matter of public interest. We hope this decision sends the message that such requests should not be dismissed.
This is the fourth consecutive court won by Democracy for Sale this year, following favorable verdicts on the Covid VIP lanean allegedly net zero coal mineAnd pressure by the controversial electricity company Drax.
Our legal victories show that it is possible to successfully fight for transparency and make important documents public, but it takes time, resources and perseverance.
We are already working on more investigations to combat government secrecy and expose hidden lobbying.