The president of COP29’s host country has told the UN climate conference that oil and gas are a “gift of god,” the BBC reports.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev criticized “Western fake news” about the country’s emissions and said nations “should not be blamed” for having fossil fuel reserves.
The country plans to expand gas production by up to a third over the next decade.
Shortly afterwards, UN chief António Guterres told the conference that doubling down on the use of fossil fuels was “absurd.”
Addressing the conference on its second day, President Aliyev said Azerbaijan had been subject to “slander and blackmail” ahead of COP29.
He said it had been as if “Western fake news media”, charities and politicians were “competing in spreading disinformation… about our country.”
Aliyev said the country’s share in global gas emissions was “only 0.1%.”
“Oil, gas, wind, sun, gold, silver, copper, all… are natural resources and 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.”
Menwhile, oil and gas are a major cause of climate change because they release planet-warming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide when burned for energy.
