President of Fossil Fuel Powerhouse Azerbaijan
"Criticism of Our Emissions Is Western Fake News"
Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan and chair of the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) this year, which is preparing to respond to climate change, has sparked controversy by claiming that oil and gas are "gifts from God."
On the 12th (local time), the British BBC reported that President Aliyev made these claims while criticizing the United Nations (UN). Aliyev also dismissed concerns about Azerbaijan's carbon emissions as "Western fake news," arguing that "no country should be blamed because of its fossil fuel reserves."
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, who recently succeeded in his fifth consecutive term. Photo by Yonhap News
Azerbaijan is the host country of COP29. COP is an annual forum organized by the UN where member countries gather to discuss and agree on climate change response measures, including funding for renewable energy transitions and setting new standards. Past agreements such as the Rio Conference framework, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement were also reached at COP meetings.
However, Azerbaijan, the chair country of this COP, is a nation that promotes the fossil fuel industry. Azerbaijan has already announced plans to increase its gas production by up to one-third over the next decade.
During his speech on the second day of COP29, President Aliyev claimed that he had been "subjected to slander and threats" ahead of the conference, strongly criticizing that "Western fake news media, charities, and politicians seem to be competing to spread false information about us."
He stated that Azerbaijan's carbon emissions account for only 0.1% of the global share and emphasized that "resources such as oil, gas, wind, solar, gold, silver, and copper are all natural resources," adding, "There is no reason to be criticized for putting the resources a country possesses on the market. The market needs resources."
Following President Aliyev's remarks, other world leaders immediately responded. UN Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres said at the conference, "Doubling the use of fossil fuels is absurd," and asserted, "The clean energy revolution has arrived, and no government can stop it."
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer expressed his goal to reduce carbon emissions by 81% by 2035, stating, "The race toward clean energy jobs and economy has already begun, and we want to lead, not follow."
According to the BBC, President Aliyev is a former executive who worked for 26 years at Socar, Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company. Because of this, many environmental industry experts have expressed concerns that he is not qualified to chair COP29.
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