BONN, Germany, June 10 (Reuters) - Environmental groupsurged governments on Wednesday to ban oil companies and otherbig corporate polluters from any involvement in U.N. talks onslowing climate change, saying any role was like letting anarsonist work as a fire fighter.
They presented a petition to "kick big polluters out ofclimate policy" at 190-nation talks in Bonn on curbing globalwarming, signed by 224,000 people and backed by about 20 groupsincluding Greenpeace USA and Rainforest Action Network.
Bill McKibben, co-founder of green group 350.org that waspart of the alliance, said firms that emitted fossil fuels werepart of the problem, not the solution.
"Why would you let the professional arsonist join thevolunteer fire department?" he asked.
The organisers criticised France, the host of a Paris summitin late 2016 meant to agree a global deal to limit climatechange, for letting companies including power utilityElectricite de France to be among sponsors of the event.
And they doubted the sincerity of six European oil and gascompanies - BG Group, BP, Eni, Royal DutchShell, Statoil and France's Total -which last week urged talks on adopting carbon pricing.
The United Nations, however, is trying to build a broadcoalition for action beyond governments - including companiesand cities - to limit emissions blamed by a U.N. panel forcausing more droughts, floods and rising sea levels.
Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. Climate ChangeSecretariat, said last week she would continue dialogue with oiland gas companies, for instance, saying they "have an enormousrole to play in solving climate change."
The activists said inviting oil companies to discuss climatechange was like asking advice from tobacco companies abouthealth policies.
The environmentalists urged adoption of rules similar tothose by the U.N.'s World Health Organization requiringgovernments to protect health policies "from commercial andother vested interests of the tobacco industry". (Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
