In his opening speech at the UN Climate Change Conference COP29, President Ilham Aliyev of the host country, Azerbaijan, delivered a harsh speech criticizing the policies of Western countries and openly defended fossil fuels.
This was reported by POLITICO.
The publication noted that opening speeches at the annual COP climate summits rarely contain such harsh and merciless political attacks, as well as such an open defense of fossil fuels – especially by the host country.
The host of COP29 complained to the public about hypocritical Western governments that buy their gas and lecture them about burning the planet.
"Unfortunately, double standards, the habit of teaching other countries and political hypocrisy have become a kind of thing modus operandi for some politicians, state-controlled NGOs and fake media in some Western countries," he said.
Aliyev called oil and gas "a gift from God". He is sure that countries cannot be blamed for having these resources, and cannot be blamed for bringing them to a market that needs them.
Aliyev criticized European countries especially harshly. He recalled that they readily signed agreements on expanding purchases of Azerbaijani gas after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"It was not our idea. This was a proposal of the European Commission," said the President of Azerbaijan.
He also spoke about his meeting with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in July 2022 during the signing of the agreement on doubling the supply of Azerbaijani gas to the EU.
"They needed our gas due to the change in the geopolitical situation, and they asked us to help," Aliyev said.
It is worth reminding that the economy of Azerbaijan largely depends on oil and gas production. According to the US International Trade Administration, in 2022 they accounted for almost half of the country's GDP and 92.5% of export revenue.
"As president of COP29, of course we will strongly advocate for a green transition, and we are doing it. But at the same time, we must be realistic," Aliyev concluded.
POLITICO reminded that this is the second year in a row that a country dependent on fossil fuels has hosted the Conference of the Parties. Last year, it was the United Arab Emirates. However, they were less militant in their defense of fossil fuels. Back then, the UAE only stated that it would remain important for the global economy for some time to come.
Recently, almost 200 countries at the COP29 Conference of the Parties agreed on new UN standards for launching international carbon markets after almost a decade of complex discussions.
