Oil and fuel ‘present of god’, says host Azerbaijan president

The president of COP29’s host nation has advised the UN local weather convention that oil and fuel are a “gift of god”.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev criticised “Western fake news” concerning the nation’s emissions and mentioned nations “should not be blamed” for having fossil gasoline reserves.

The nation plans to broaden fuel manufacturing by as much as a 3rd over the following decade.

Shortly afterwards, UN chief António Guterres advised the convention that doubling down on the usage of fossil fuels was “absurd”.

He mentioned the “clean energy revolution” had arrived and that no authorities may cease it.

Some observers had expressed issues about the world’s largest local weather convention going down in Azerbaijan.

Its minister for ecology and pure sources – a former oil govt that spent 26 years at Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and fuel firm Socar – is the convention’s chairman.

There are additionally issues that Azerbaijani officers are utilizing COP29 to spice up funding within the nation’s nationwide oil and fuel firm.

However addressing the convention on its second day, President Aliyev mentioned Azerbaijan had been topic to “slander and blackmail” forward of COP29.

He mentioned it had been as if “Western fake news media”, charities and politicians have been “competing in spreading disinformation… about our country”.

Aliyev mentioned the nation’s share in world fuel emissions was “only 0.1%”.

“Oil, gas, wind, sun, gold, silver, copper, all… are natural resources and countries should not be blamed for having them, and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market, because the market needs them.”

Oil and fuel are a serious reason for local weather change as a result of they launch planet-warming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide when burned for power.

The US can also be beneath the highlight on the convention, following the election victory of Donald Trump – a recognized local weather sceptic.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden’s envoy John Podesta referred to as out president-elect Trump’s view that local weather change was a hoax and mentioned the US staff would proceed to work on the deal handed at COP28 in 2023.

He added that Washington was additionally engaged on a deal handed final 12 months in Dubai to triple renewable energy by 2030.

Addressing the convention in Baku on Tuesday, UN Secretary Common Guterres decried “doubling down on fossil fuels”.

“The sound you hear is the ticking clock,” he mentioned.

“We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and time is not on our side.”

He referred to as 2024 a “masterclass in climate destruction” with disasters being “supercharged by human-made climate change”.

The UN’s World Meteorological Group beforehand mentioned that 2024 is on observe to be the world’s warmest 12 months on document.

Guterres mentioned “a new finance goal” was wanted, with wealthiest international locations paying probably the most.

“They are the largest emitters, with the greatest capacities and responsibilities,” he mentioned.

“Developing countries must not leave Baku empty-handed.”

The Azerbaijani president’s feedback are unlikely to derail talks behind the scenes, that are largely about getting extra cash for poorer international locations to assist implement their local weather plans.

Growing nations are calling for richer international locations to agree collectively on a fund that would add as much as $1 trillion, utilizing private and non-private cash.

Leaders of a lot of the world’s greatest polluters weren’t current in Baku, together with Biden, France’s chief Emmanuel Macron and India’s Narendra Modi.

The atmosphere minister for Burkino Faso, a central African nation among the many poorest on the earth, advised the BBC that extra cash was important.

Roger Baro mentioned it will assist his nation cope with the present impacts of local weather change within the nation, which is experiencing widespread drought, flash floods and illness outbreaks.

The disasters occurred within the Sahel area, which noticed temperatures of 45C this 12 months in a heatwave that scientists mentioned would have been unimaginable to achieve with out local weather change.

Amongst different world leaders to take to the stage on Tuesday was Spain’s prime minister, who referred to as for “drastic measures” after floods killed greater than 200 individuals within the nation.

Consultants say that local weather change contributed to the heavy rainfall that prompted the floods.

“We need to undergo decarbonisation, adapt our towns and infrastructure,” mentioned Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

COP29 is scheduled to final till 22 November, however there are already fears that the difficult points on the desk may make a ultimate settlement very tough.