Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’ as he lambasts climate activists in COP29 opening speech

The president of Azerbaijan, who is hosting climate summit COP29, has hailed oil and gas as “a gift from God” as he lambasted Western media and climate activists. 

President Ilham Aliyev kicked off the conference with a wide-ranging, critical speech in which he hit out at those opposed to his country’s oil and gas industries.

In his keynote address at COP29, where nearly 200 nations are negotiating global action on climate change, president Aliyev described his country as a victim of a “well-orchestrated campaign of slander and blackmail”.

Within moments, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres took to the stage to say that doubling down on fossil fuels was an absurd strategy.

But president Aliyev said: “As a president of COP29 of course, we will be a strong advocate for green transition, and we are doing it. But at the same time, we must be realistic.”

Referencing gas and oil resources, he added: “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. The people need them.”

The Azerbaijan government relies on fossil fuels for 60% of its budget and 90% of exports.

President Aliyev said it was “not fair” to call Azerbaijan a “petrostate” because it produces less than 1% of the world’s oil and gas.

He singled out the US, the world’s largest historic carbon emitter, and the European Union for particular criticism – accusing them of double standards.

President Aliyev’s speech underscored the challenge at the heart of the climate negotiations: while all nations are urged to shift to green energy sources, many, including wealthy Western nations, continue to rely on fossil fuels.

But the UK has pledged a new goal of cutting emissions by 81% by 2035.

The government said it is on a mission to “tackle the climate crisis in a way that makes the British people better off” – by investing in clean, home-grown power and cutting ties with volatile fossil fuel markets.

Over the course of the last 35 years, since 1990, the UK has already cut its emissions by 50%. Now it wants to cut them by a further 31% in just 10 years.

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However, its advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), warned the government is missing the plans it needs to get there.

“The good news is [the 81% target] is achievable,” said the CCC’s new chief Emma Pinchbeck.

“The less good news for government is they are behind on their [existing] targets.”

That is not because “we don’t have the technologies available, or that the economics don’t work”, but because we “haven’t had a delivery plan” from the government to get there, she said.

The UK’s pledge puts more pressure on other developed nations and host country Azerbaijan to publish their own plans, known in UN jargon as NDCs [nationally determined contributions].

On Sunday, Azerbaijan refused to commit to publishing a new one during the summit.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden‘s government finalised a methane fee for big oil and gas producers in an effort to cut emissions. But the measure is likely to be scrapped by president-elect Donald Trump.