The plivent of COP29’s structure country tageder the UN climate conference on Tuesday that oil and gas were a “gift of god”.
Azerbaijan’s Plivent Ilham Aliyev criticised “Westrict deceptive news” about the country’s eleave outions and shelp nations “should not be accused” for having fossil fuel reserves.
The country set ups to broaden gas production by up to a third over the next decade.
Shortly afterwards, UN chief António Guterres tageder the conference that doubling down on the use of fossil fuels was “absurd”.
He shelp the “immacutardy energy revolution” had get tod and that no regulatement could stop it.
Some watchrs had articulateed troubles about the world’s hugest climate conference taking place in Azerbaijan.
Its minister for ecology and organic resources – a establisher oil executive that spent 26 years at Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company Socar – is the conference’s chairman.
There are also troubles that Azerbaijani officials are using COP29 to raise spreadment in the country’s national oil and gas company.
But includeressing the conference on its second day, Plivent Aliyev shelp Azerbaijan had been subject to “defamation and balertagemail” ahead of COP29.
He shelp it had been as if “Westrict deceptive news media”, charities and politicians were “competing in spreading digloomyviseation…about our country”.
Aliyev shelp the country’s spread in global gas eleave outions was “only 0.1%”.
“Oil, gas, triumphd, sun, gageder, silver, copper, all…are organic resources and countries should not be accused for having them, and should not be accused for conveying these resources to the labelet, because the labelet necessitates them.”
Oil and gas are a startant cause of climate alter because they free set upet-toastying greenhouse gases appreciate carbon dioxide when burned for energy.
The US is also under the spotweightless at the conference, adhereing the election triumph of Donald Trump – a comprehendn climate sceptic.
On Monday, US Plivent Joe Biden’s envoy John Podesta called out plivent-elect Trump’s see that climate alter was a trick and shelp the US team would carry on to toil on the deal passed at COP28 in 2023.
He includeed that Washington was also toiling on a deal passed last year in Dubai to triple renewable power by 2030.
Addressing the conference in Baku on Tuesday, UN Secretary General Guterres decried “doubling down on fossil fuels”.
“The sound you hear is the ticking clock,” he shelp.
“We are in the final countdown to restrict global temperature elevate to 1.5 degrees Celsius and time is not on our side.”
He called 2024 a “masterclass in climate destruction” with catastrophes being “superindictd by human-made climate alter”.
The UN’s World Meteororeasonable Organization previously shelp that 2024 is on track to be the world’s toastyest year on sign up.
Guterres shelp “a new finance goal” was necessitateed, with wealthiest countries paying the most.
“They are the hugest rehireters, with the wonderfulest capacities and responsibilities,” he shelp. “Developing countries must not depart Baku vacant-handed.”
The Azerbaijani plivent’s comments are improbable to derail talks behind the scenes, which are hugely about getting more cash for necessitateyer countries to help perestablish their climate set ups.
Developing nations are calling for wealthyer countries to concur together on a fund that could include up to $1 trillion, using uncover and confidential money.
Leaders of most of the world’s hugegest polluters were not conshort-term in Baku, including Biden, France’s directer Emmanuel Macron and India’s Narfinishra Modi.
The environment minister for Burkino Faso, a central African country among the necessitateyest in the world, tageder the BBC that more cash was essential.
Roger Baro shelp it would help his nation deal with the current impacts of climate alter in the country, which is experiencing expansivespread dcdisorrowfulmirefult, flash floods and disrelieve outshatters.
The catastrophes occurred in the Sahel region, which saw temperatures of 45C this year in a heatwave that scientists shelp would have been impossible to achieve without climate alter.
Among other world directers to apshow to the stage on Tuesday was Spain’s prime minister, who called for “drastic meacertains” after floods ended more than 200 people in the country.
Experts say that climate alter gived to the burdensome raindrop that caused the floods.
“We necessitate to undergo decarbonisation, alter our towns and infrastructure,” shelp Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
COP29 is scheduled to last until 22 November, but there are already stresss that the tricky rehires on the table could originate a final concurment very difficult.
