The head of the Greens’ delegation to COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan next month has redoubled criticism of the host country over its human rights record and status as a major fossil fuel producer.
MEPs travelling to the Azeri capital Baku for upcoming UN climate talks will be issued with disposable phones amid fears of hacking by foreign agents, the Green MEP Michael Bloss has revealed, while expressing concern about slow progress towards ending the fossil fuel era, Euronews reports.
“Security advisors have warned us that our devices are likely to be infiltrated—a precaution based on first-hand experiences with surveillance and reprisals in the region,” Bloss told Euronews after briefing journalists on the COP29 summit.
“Even as MEPs, we can’t communicate freely without fearing state monitoring,” said the German lawmaker, who is part of the European Parliament’s 15-strong official delegation to the talks.
The whole delegation will be offered “burner” phones, Bloss’s office confirmed in an email exchange, using a term that usually refers to cheap, anonymous, pre-paid handsets that can be used briefly then discarded.
Bloss criticised the choice of yet another host country, after Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, whose economy is heavily reliant on fossil fuel exports. “Socar, the gas and oil company of Azerbaijan, has announced that they want to expand their oil and gas drilling,” the MEP noted.
“That’s the opposite of what should be happening,” Bloss said.
The COP29 summit runs from 11 to 22 November.
