lobbying

History and etymology

In pre-modern political systems, royal courts provided incidental opportunities for gaining the ear of monarchs and their councilors.

That architectural sense of lobby is believed to originate from the medieval Latin lobia or lobium, which refers to a gallery, hall, or portico. This architectural sense was later adopted to describe the practice of advocating or debating in such spaces.

In a report carried by the BBC, an OED lexicographer has shown that "lobbying" finds its roots in the gathering of Members of Parliament and peers in the hallways ("lobbies") of the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament before and after parliamentary debates where members of the public can meet their representatives.

One story held that the term originated at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., where it was supposedly used by President Ulysses S. Grant to describe the political advocates who frequented the hotel's lobby to access Grant—who was often there in the evenings to enjoy a cigar and brandy—and then tried to buy the president drinks in an attempt to influence his political decisions. Although the term may have gained more widespread currency in Washington, D.C., by virtue of this practice during the Grant Administration, the OED cites numerous documented uses of the word well before Grant's presidency, including use in Pennsylvania as early as 1808.

The term "lobbying" also appeared in print as early as 1820:

Other letters from Washington affirm, that members of the Senate, when the compromise question was to be taken in the House, were not only "lobbying about the Representatives' Chamber" but also active in endeavoring to intimidate certain weak representatives by insulting threats to dissolve the Union.

Overview

Lobbying involves direct meetings with legislators to influence policy decisions based on their political interests and goals. Lobbying can be carried out by various entities, including individuals acting as constituents, corporations pursuing business interests, nonprofits, NGOs through advocacy groups, interest groups, and political action committees.

Some government relations practices may include the use of campaign finance by contributing endorsements for political candidates and proposed public policies to achieve a group's political interests.

While there are different types of lobbying, the main form of lobbying to influence government action is by meeting with legislators. Groups that hire lobbyists will endorse expenditures, which refers to the total dollars spent on lobbying activity. These expenditures usually go towards setting up direct meetings with lawmakers, extensive data and research on policies, drafting proposals, and testimonies. During these meetings, lobbyists will share case studies, research, and relevant data in order to frame their policy strategy and solution as highly credible to legislators. Credibility is a huge factor in lobbyist-legislator relationships as it builds a sense of trust and cooperation in the policy making process aiming to advance or block certain policies.

When government relations work is done in-house among non-profit organizations, humanitarian aid organizations, trade unions, professional associations, trade associations, or chambers of commerce, it is referred to as policy and advocacy; where lobbying alongside litigation, public education, coalition building, capacity building, and other types of advocacy, is known as one of several components to the activity known as policy advocacy. It is also an industry known by many of the aforementioned names, and has a near-complete overlap with the public affairs industry.

Legislative relations can include legislators influencing each other or government officials in the executive and judicial branch agencies reporting to or interacting with the legislative branch through their respective offices of legislative affairs.

Methods

Lobby groups generally concentrate their efforts on legislatures, the process in which laws and policies are passed, as well as at the executive branch, where laws are enforced by regulatory agencies; but may also use the judiciary to advance their causes. For example by acting as parties or amici curiae (intervenors) in lawsuits. For example, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), filed suits in state and federal courts in the 1950s in aims to challenge segregation laws. Their efforts resulted in the Supreme Court declaring such laws as unconstitutional.

Lobbyists and non-lobbyists may use a legal device known as amicus curiae (lit. 'friend of the court') briefs to try to influence court cases. Briefs are written documents filed with a court, typically by parties to a lawsuit. Amici curiae briefs are briefs filed by people or groups who are not parties to a suit. These briefs are entered into the court records and give additional background on the matter being decided upon. Advocacy groups use these briefs both to share their expertise and to promote their positions.

In 2013, the director general of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, illustrated the methods used in lobbying against public health issues:

Efforts to prevent noncommunicable diseases go against the business interests of powerful economic operators. In my view, this is one of the biggest challenges facing health promotion. [...] it is not just Big Tobacco anymore. Public health must also contend with Big Food, Big Soda, and Big Alcohol. All of these industries fear regulation, and protect themselves by using the same tactics. Research has documented these tactics well. They include front groups, lobbies, promises of self-regulation, lawsuits, and industry-funded research that confuses the evidence and keeps the public in doubt. Tactics also include gifts, grants, and contributions to worthy causes that cast these industries as respectable corporate citizens in the eyes of politicians and the public. They include arguments that place the responsibility for harm to health on individuals, and portray government actions as interference in personal liberties and free choice. This is formidable opposition. [...] When industry is involved in policy-making, rest assured that the most effective control measures will be downplayed or left out entirely. This, too, is well-documented, and dangerous. In the view of WHO, the formulation of health policies must be protected from distortion by commercial or vested interests.

Effects

According to a 2025 review of research on lobbying, three effects of lobbying have been documented in the academic literature: First, in line with public suspicions, lobbyists have transactional relationships with public officials in which they exchange money for political access and influence. Second, lobbyists persuade public officials by providing information that changes the positions taken by policymakers. Third, successful mobilization of citizen support or lobbying coalitions helps lobbyists attain policy aims.

Public affairs industry

Public affairs generally refers to the engagement efforts between organizations, often times in the context of building business or governmental relationships. The industry has developed over recent years and is normally considered a branch or sub-discipline of public relations (PR). Having such a broad range of coverage regarding its definition, public affairs is, by nature, a hybrid of disciplines that relies heavily on strategic communication. While often equated with lobbying, this is usually only a small part of what a public affairs practitioner might do. Other typical functions include research, strategy planning and providing advice. Dr. Juan-Carlos Molleda writes, "Many types of organizations virtually and physically interact and communicate with publics or audiences outside of their own country of origin to build a dynamic set of relationships. Trade, direct foreign investment, political coalitions, worthy global causes, information flow, and social networking, among other phenomena, are increasing the complexity of those relationships dramatically".

Organizations who make use of public affairs are typically large companies, charities, trade unions, membership organizations and interest groups. They will either have staff working directly for them or employ a firm of public affairs consultants. Very often public affairs staff will work with their non-PR colleagues who are experts in a given field. Public affairs fundamentally has a global impact, and it is necessary to view it through the lens of the perspective nation in which it is being practiced.

Given public affairs' current development, there is still a common perception among those not within the industry that synonymize public affairs with lobbying, as well as public relations. Within the Global North, public affairs entails not only the former, but additionally information monitoring, media management, event planning and organization, political marketing, and of course, networking. The industry itself is expected to grow in employment opportunities by 7% between 2019 and 2029 in the US, faster than the average for all other occupations, and can mostly be contributed to the growing need for organizations to maintain their public image in such a media-abundant society. It is difficult to determine the size of the public affairs industry in the United Kingdom. Studies suggest the industry is becoming more professionalized, and that it is more widespread than often assumed. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), which is the UK's professional body for public relations including public affairs, estimates there are around 48,000 people involved in PR, of which 30% are involved in public affairs. This research is limited as it only measures specific job titles and those who declare themselves to be working in PR. There are large numbers of professionals providing public affairs services while working under different job titles across a wide variety of sectors. The job titles of public affairs practitioners may vary, depending on the focus of their role, but may include, "public affairs", "external affairs/relations", "corporate communications", "government/parliamentary affairs" and "policy".

Criticism

The ethics and morals involved with legally lobbying or influence peddling are controversial. Lobbying can, at times, be spoken of with contempt, when the implication is that people with inordinate socioeconomic power are corrupting the law in order to serve their own interests. When people who have a duty to act on behalf of others, such as elected officials with a duty to serve their constituents' interests or more broadly the public good, can benefit by shaping the law to serve the interests of some private parties, a conflict of interest exists. Many critiques of lobbying point to the potential for conflicts of interest to lead to agent misdirection or the intentional failure of an agent with a duty to serve an employer, client, or constituent to perform those duties. The failure of government officials to serve the public interest as a consequence of lobbying by special interests who provide benefits to the official is an example of agent misdirection. Lobbying can shift elected politicians away from the median voter. Politicians tend to vote against the preferred position of their constituency when there is more special interest money and less attention to politics. Lobbying can incentivise lax enforcement of laws. That is why lobbying is seen as one of the causes of a democratic deficit.

Regulations

Nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, volunteer coalitions, and political action committees may also engage in lobbying as part of their mission-related activities. Governments often define "lobbying" for legal purposes, and regulate organized group lobbying that has become influential. Requiring disclosure of financial expenditures, the identities of clients, and the specific issues being lobbied in order to promote transparency and limit potential conflicts of interest.

The international standards for the regulation of lobbying were introduced at four international organizations and supranational associations: 1) the European Union; 2) the Council of Europe; 3) the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; 4) the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Governments can define and regulate organized group lobbying as part of federal laws to prevent political corruption, thereby establishing transparency about possible influences by public lobby registers.

The Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), established in 1995, is a comprehensive reporting and disclosure framework that all registered lobbyists in the United States must follow. This act requires all lobbying firms to report expenditures that meet lobbying activity criteria. These disclosure statements must be filed every quarter corresponding to the two year legislation period and are accessible by the public.

Laws that regulate lobbying are extremely important for political and public transparency. Requiring registered lobbyists to file their activities allows for these contributions to be tracked, transparency of which groups are spending the most on lobbying, and which policies are receiving the most expenditures. Although these reports do not specify the policies certain groups are lobbying on, citizens are able to find out which groups are actively participating in lobbying and who spends the most in each sector. Having laws regulating lobbying holds lobbyists accountable by making their actions visible and prevents political corruption through public oversight.

Implications

As there are laws regulating lobbying, there are often loopholes in these frameworks. The Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) has several loopholes and weaknesses that allow lobbying influences to occur with limited transparency.

A significant implication of the LDA is the narrow definition of what is considered lobbying activity. To fall under this criteria, an individual must spend 20% or more of their time lobbying for a client and have more than one lobbying contact in a six month period. This means that firms that do not meet the 20% criteria are not required to disclose their lobbying activity. The time spent lobbying include time spent on policy research, strategizing for policy outcome, testimony, and drafting language. As a result of this, many firms deliberately structure jobs for employees to stay at 19% or less lobbying time on paper to directly avoid reporting their activities. In doing so, many firms also split lobbying work across multiple employees to avoid one single client reaching the 20% threshold.

Reform advocates of the LDA argue that this criteria focuses on the technical behavior of lobbying activities rather than policy influence. Many propose eliminating the 20% threshold and instead require that all registered lobbying activity is reported.

The LDA has been somewhat effective in encouraging lobbying transparency, however it is weakly enforced. The LDA authorizes the Department of Justice to enforce compliance, violations of the act can result in civil penalties and fines, even criminal penalties resulting in jail time. These penalties are often weakly enforced because the LDA depends on self-reporting files from lobbying firms which can be unreliable.

The revolving door concept disproportionately affects the lobbying industry. This is the cycle of former congress members switching between the roles as legislators and regulators, and with the roles of the industries affected by legislation and regulation. This is a major implication because one of the main assets for successful lobbying is the ability to directly contact and influence government officials. "Revolving door" lobbyists are able to use their inside knowledge on current legislation and use established personal relationships from their previous government jobs to sway policy outcomes. This climate is attractive for ex-government officials as it can bring substantial monetary rewards for lobbying firms, government projects, and contracts worth millions of dollars for those they represent.

Types of practitioners

In government relations, and advocacy in general, practitioners may fall into several different categories.

A "principal", is a person, organization, or member of an organization that hires a lobbyist to represent their interests before lawmakers or their staff in direct lobbying settings, or a (paid grassroots staff member or unpaid volunteer) "senior member" of an organization or advocacy group that is advocating for a certain cause on their own behalf without a registered lobbyist and coordinates constituent meetings between advocates, the legislators that represent them individually, and on on behalf of interested individuals from the general public when conducted in grassroots lobbying settings.

"Advocates" (also known as "amateur lobbyists" or "volunteer lobbyists") who are practitioners of grassroots lobbying, such as individual voters/voter blocs within an electoral district, community organizers, (paid or unpaid) grassroots staff members, or amateur non-professional volunteers at advocacy groups and political organizations, who are there either as "constituent advocates" (i.e. constituents) ready to share their views and concerns with the lawmaker(s) that represent(s) them, or as principals and "non-constituent advocates" ("NC") reaching out to legislators' offices for which they are not a constituent of with the goal of advocating for specific causes the coordinating organization supports. In a legal sense advocates and amateur lobbyists may not even be classified as lobbyists at all due to not meeting the threshold for registration.

"Professional lobbyists" (most often simply referred to as "lobbyists" with no qualifier) are practitioners of direct lobbying, they engage in lobbying as a business or profession by trying to influence legislation, regulations, government decisions, actions, or policies on behalf of a group or individual who hires them and are generally required to enter their names into a lobby register as "registered lobbyists".

Then there are "non-lobbyist government relations and public affairs professionals" (such as consultants, administrative/program/project/secretarial/legislative support staff, researchers, lawyers, government relations specialists, legislative assistants, legislative coordinators, and, public relations/communications professionals, among others) who work on behalf of professional lobbyists but may not actively engage in directly influencing or face-to-face meetings with targeted individuals to the extent required for registration as lobbyists, operating within the same professional circles as registered lobbyists (i.e. not all government relations professionals are lobbyists, while all lobbyists are generally considered government relations professionals).

Lobbying by country

Australia

Since the 1980s, lobbying in Australia has grown from a small industry of a few hundred employees to a multi-billion dollar per year industry. What was once the preserve of big multinational companies and at a more local level (property developers, for example, Urban Taskforce Australia) has morphed into an industry that employs more than 10,000 people and represents every facet of human endeavour.

Academic John Warhurst from the Australian National University noted that over this time, retired politicians have increasingly turned political lobbyists to leverage their networks and experience for private gain. In 2018 he noted that two of the top three Howard government ministers had become lobbyists: Alexander Downer and Peter Costello, and that the trend could be traced back to the Hawke government of 1983. Mick Young stated that by 1983 the lobbying profession was an established part of the democratic political process in Canberra. Warhurst attests that by 2018, "political leader-lobbyists" were an established part of the same process. During the 1980s, political leaders traded on their own names, like Bob Hawke, or joined the "respectable" end of the lobbying spectrum, working for law firms or banks, like former New South Wales premiers Nick Greiner and Bob Carr. In 2008, Alexander Downer formed the lobbying firm Bespoke Approach, along with former Labor minister Nick Bolkus and Ian Smith, who is married to former Australian Democrats leader, Natasha Stott-Despoja. Peter Costello carried two former staffers to work with him in his lobbying firm, ECG Consulting: Jonathan Epstein and David Gazard. Politicians can become exposed to allegations of conflicts of interest when they both lobby and advise governments. Examples include Peter Costello.

Political party staff often form lobbying firms or dominate their ranks. Former Howard chief-of-staff Grahame Morris is the director of Barton Deakin Government Relations. His colleagues there include David Alexander (former Costello staffer), Sallyanne Atkinson (former Lord Mayor of Brisbane and former federal Liberal Party candidate), Howard staffer John Griffin and former New South Wales Liberal Party leader, Peter Collins. The Labor "sister" company is Hawker Britton, so named as both firms are owned by STW Group. In 2013, Hawker Britton had 113 client companies on its books.

In 2013, there were just under 280 firms on the Federal Australian Register of Lobbyists. Steve Carney of Carney Associated said that lobbyists "try to leave no thumbprints on the glass, no footprints in the sand. The best lobbying is when nobody knows you were there." Mark Textor of campaign advisory group Crosby Textor described political lobbying as a "pathetic miserable industry".

Bahrain

In December 2022, Bahrain's lobbying efforts were reflected in a report by The Guardian, which involved the name of a senior Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský. The controversy concerned the European Parliament's "friendship groups", the unofficial bodies operating with no formal regulations and sometimes under sponsored lobbyists and foreign governments. The European Parliament was preparing to vote on a resolution to call for the release of a Bahraini political prisoner Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. However, the chair of the European Parliament's Bahrain friendship group, Zdechovský came under question for visiting Bahrain in April 2022, without declaring. In a separate resolution, Zdechovský's EPP failed to call for Khawaja's release and instead called him a "political opponent". Director of BIRD, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei accused the Czech MEP of acting as a mouthpiece for Bahrain.

Canada

Canada maintains a Registry of Lobbyists.

As of 2018, more than 5,000 people worked as registered lobbyists at Canada's federal level. Lobbying began as an unregulated profession, but since the late 20th century has been regulated by the government to increase transparency and establish a set of ethics for both lobbyists, and those who will be lobbied. Canada does not require disclosure of lobbyist spending on lobbying activities.

European Union

The first step towards specialized regulation of lobbying in the European Union was a Written Question tabled by Alman Metten, in 1989. In 1991, Marc Galle, Chairman of the Committee on the Rules of Procedure, the Verification of Credentials and Immunities, was appointed to submit proposals for a Code of conduct and a register of lobbyists. Today lobbying in the European Union is an integral and important part of decision-making in the EU. From year to year lobbying regulation in the EU is constantly improving and the number of lobbyists increases. This increase in lobbying activity is a result of the growing recognition of lobbying as a critical discipline at the intersection of politics, economics, and society.

In 2003 there were around 15,000 lobbyists (consultants, lawyers, associations, corporations, NGOs etc.) in Brussels seeking to influence the EU's legislation. Some 2,600 special interest groups had a permanent office in Brussels. Their distribution was roughly as follows: European trade federations (32%), consultants (20%), companies (13%), NGOs (11%), national associations (10%), regional representations (6%), international organizations (5%) and think tanks (1%), (Lehmann, 2003, pp iii).

In addition to this, lobby organisations sometimes hire former EU employees (a phenomenon known as the revolving door) who possess inside knowledge of the EU institutions and policy process. This practice of hiring former EU employees is part of what lobbyist Andreas Geiger describes as lobbying's vital role in shaping law and decision-making processes, given the unique insights and access these individuals provide. A report by Transparency International EU published in January 2017 analysed the career paths of former EU officials and found that 30% of Members of the European Parliament who left politics went to work for organisations on the EU lobby register after their mandate and approximately one-third of Commissioners serving under Barroso took jobs in the private sector after their mandate, including for Uber, ArcelorMittal, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. These potential conflicts of interest could be avoided if a stronger ethics framework were established at the EU level, including an independent ethics body and longer cooling-off periods for MEPs.

In the wake of the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal in Washington, D.C., and the massive impact this had on the lobbying scene in the United States, the rules for lobbying in the EU—which until now consisted of only a non-binding code of conduct—may also be tightened.

India

In India, where there is no law regulating the process, lobbying has traditionally been a tool for industry bodies like the National Association of Software and Service Companies, the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and other pressure groups to engage with the government ahead of the national budget and legislation in parliament. Lobbying activities have frequently been identified in the context of corruption cases, for example, the 2010 controversy surrounding leaked audio transcripts of conversations between the corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and senior journalists and politicians. Besides private companies, the Indian government has been paying for the services of a US firm since 2005 to lobby, for example, in relation to the India-US civilian nuclear deal. In India, there are no laws that defined the scope of lobbying, who could undertake it, or the extent of disclosure necessary. Companies are not mandated to disclose their activities and lobbyists are neither authorized nor encouraged to reveal the names of clients or public officials they have contacted. The distinction between lobbying and bribery still remains unclear.

In 2012, Walmart revealed it had spent $25 million since 2008 on lobbying to "enhance market access for investment in India". This disclosure came weeks after the Indian government made a controversial decision to permit foreign direct investment in the country's multi-brand retail sector.

Successful grassroots lobbying campaigns include the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan's campaign to pass the 2005 Right to Information Act and Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign to introduce the 2011 Lokpal Bill.

New Zealand

There is no register for lobbying activity and no cooling off period for public officials before they can enter the lobbying industry in New Zealand, allowing politicians and Parliamentary staffers to immediately become lobbyists after leaving office. Kris Faafoi joined a lobbying firm just three months after leaving Parliament, where he had been justice and broadcasting minister. Lobbyists also move directly into staffer positions. Gordon-Jon Thompson took a leave of absence from his lobbying firm to work as chief of staff to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for four months before returning to his lobbying firm. Andrew Kirton resigned from his lobbying company on 31 January 2023 and the next day was announced as chief of staff for Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

Some ad hoc provisions against revolving door politics exist in relation to certain industries. The Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, for example, prohibits Ministers of Immigration, Associate Ministers of Immigration and immigration officials from becoming a licensed immigration adviser for one year after leaving government employment.

Transparency International (TI) criticized the lack of oversight in the New Zealand lobbying industry in a November 2022 report as lax.

United Kingdom

In the UK, lobbying plays a significant role in the formation of legislation. Various commercial organisations, lobby groups "lobby" for particular policies and decisions by Parliament and other political organs at national, regional and local levels.

The phrase "lobbying" comes from the gathering of Members of Parliament and peers in the hallways (or lobbies) of Houses of Parliament before and after parliamentary debates. The now-defunct UK Public Affairs Council (UKPAC) defined lobbying as:in a professional capacity, attempting to influence, or advising those who wish to influence, the UK Government, Parliament, the devolved legislatures or administrations, regional or local government or other public bodies on any matter within their competence. Formal procedures enable individual members of the public to lobby their Member of Parliament but most lobbying activity centres on corporate, charity and trade association lobbying, where organisations seek to amend government policy through advocacy.

In the United Kingdom a 2021 poll found 69% support for increasing lobbying regulation.

United States

In the United States, some special interests hire professional advocates to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies, such as Congress. Some lobbyists are now using social media to reduce the cost of traditional campaigns, and to more precisely target public officials with political messages.

A 2011 study of the 50 firms that spent the most on lobbying relative to their assets compared their financial performance against that of the S&P 500, and concluded that spending on lobbying was a "spectacular investment" yielding "blistering" returns comparable to a high-flying hedge fund, even despite the financial downturn. A 2011 meta-analysis of previous research findings found a positive correlation between corporate political activity and firm performance. A 2009 study found that lobbying brought a return on investment of as much as 22,000% in some cases. Major American corporations spent $345 million lobbying for just three pro-immigration bills between 2006 and 2008. A review of 30 food and beverage companies spent $38.2 million on lobbying in 2020 to strengthen and maintain their influence in Washington, D.C.

A study from the Kellogg School of Management found that political donations by corporations do not increase shareholder value. The authors posit a few reasons that firms continue giving despite little returns, including signaling firm values to investors and consumption value for individual managers.

Wall Street spent a record $2 billion trying to influence the 2016 United States presidential election.

Foreign-funded lobbying efforts include those of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, and China lobbies. In 2010 alone, foreign governments spent approximately $460 million on lobbying members of Congress and government officials.

In the US, lobbying for foreign governments is not illegal, but it requires registering as a foreign agent with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). However, this legal requirement is able to be circumvented, most notably by AIPAC. Unofficially, according to Politico, 'many lobbyists try to avoid representing countries that have tense relationships with Washington or troubled human rights records'. Between 2015 and 2017, around 145 registered lobbyists were paid $18 million by Saudi Arabia to influence the U.S. government.

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates has a long history of lobbying government and politicians in the West for its conflict of interest concerning building influence and using it to impact the country's foreign policy. In November 2022 it was accused of hiring PR and lobbying firms in order to promote to the politicians in the United States about its selection to host the COP28 Climate Conference. The problem was that the promotion started even before Egypt hosted 2022's COP27 Climate event. Fleishmann Hillard were hired to compose letters that proposed the idea of Emirati ministers attending conferences and events and using the phrase "the UAE is hosting COP28 next year". Whereas, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld were hired to reach out to US politicians particularly pushing the environmental policies or favouring fossil fuels in addition to informing them about the UAE hosting COP28. The Gulf nation even declared its intentions of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, even though 30% of their GDP relies on oil and gas directly, while the remaining relies upon industry run on heavy energy consumption.

In February 2024, New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone faced scrutiny after attending the COP28 conference. Johnstone's expenses, including the conference fees, travel and accommodation, were incurred by C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, of which Dubai is a member of the sterling committee. Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas filed a complaint against Johnstone for breaking the state's code of conduct. The investigation was assigned to Commissioner Jennifer Devins, who, in her October 2024 report, stated that Johnstone's trip provided personal benefits, which councillors are restricted from accepting. While Devins did not impose sanctions, she recommended Johnstone to take training on the laws of country.

A firm based in UAE, Alasriya Media Consultancy paid $10,000 a former CIA analyst Larry Johnson to run his podcast Counter Currents. The podcast discusses global politics, including a pro-Russian narrative of the Ukraine war and US foreign policy in the Middle East. The contract was signed in May 2024, but was not disclosed in FARA filing until November. The Emirati firm is represented by a Lebanese celebrity journalist, Ghina Amyouni, whose reason for funding the podcast was unclear.

In April 2025, a European Microscope for Middle East Affairs report uncovered the UAE's lobbying scandal in Europe, involving two human rights organizations– the African Meeting for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO) and TACUDU for Culture and Development. RADDHO, which claims to advocate for African human rights, accepted bribes from UAE-linked lobbyists to influence its activities. It was accused of aligning with the UAE's geopolitical agenda under the direction of Abu Dhabi, raising concerns over its neutrality. RADDHO received over half a million euros from the UAE-linked sources to promote negative campaigns against regional rivals, particularly Qatar, while neglecting human rights abuses in the UAE and its allies. TACUDU was also accused of exploiting its UN consultative status and receiving €350,000 from sources linked to the UAE embassy in Geneva to target Qatar through political campaigns. This led to calls for the United Nations Human Rights Council to suspend TACUDU's consultative status for violating norms expected of NGOs holding UN consultative status.

Other

Israel (1994) – a unique lobby which is called "Lobby 99" is working at the Israeli parliament. This is a lobby which is funded by the people by crowdfunding and working for the people, the 99 percent who are not among the elites which most lobbying companies represent.

Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law the much-anticipated legislation on lobbying, officially known as draft law No. 10337

Kazakhstan: Since 1998, Kazakhstan has been trying to pass a law on lobbying. The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" is one of the first official lobbying structures in the country, but there are other examples.

South Korea: In South Korea, lobbying is viewed as a form of corruption and is illegal.

United Nations are relevant to NGO lobbying.