The incoming president of the COP29 UN climate summit in Azerbaijan told AFP on Friday that his country would continue to increase fossil fuel production “in parallel” with investments in cleaner alternatives.
Mukhtar Babayev has defended holding the world’s most important climate summit despite his country’s growing gas exports, even as UN chief Antonio Guterres renewed calls this week for countries to “phase out” fossil fuels.
In an exclusive interview in Bonn with AFP, COP29 organizers said they would also call for a “COP ceasefire” and ask nations to observe a ceasefire during the marathon negotiations in Baku in November.
It comes as diplomats meet in the German city this week and next to take stock of global climate action, including the pledge made at last year’s COP in the United Arab Emirates to transition from fossil fuels.
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Environmental campaigners have expressed dismay that climate talks are being held for a second year in a row in a nation committed to developing even more of the fuels most responsible for causing global warming.
Azerbaijan’s president recently described his country’s natural gas reserves as a “gift from the gods” and pledged to stand up for other fossil fuel economies that want to export more oil and gas.
Gas and green
Babayev, a former oil executive turned environment minister, said Azerbaijan was a gas exporter and they would continue to increase production to meet demand.
That includes the European Union, he said, which signed major gas contracts with the former Soviet nation after the outbreak of war in Ukraine that triggered an energy crisis.
“We plan in several years (to) increase natural gas volumes but, at the same time, our renewable energy projects,” Babayev told AFP.
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“I think that parallels — natural gas production and renewables — will probably move together at the same time,” he added, saying his country is already investing in major clean energy projects.
The United Arab Emirates, which has been accused of using its COP presidency to push fossil fuel deals — claims it denies — also defended increasing oil and gas production capacity in response to demand.
Global effort
Babayev hopes the COP presidency will lead to a new deal for money from rich nations to help developing countries invest in clean energy and adapt to the effects of global warming.
This has been a sticking point in climate negotiations for decades, but negotiators hope to hit a new fundraising target when world leaders and ministers meet in Baku.
Developing countries want the target to exceed the previous target of $100 billion a year.
It is estimated that emerging markets and developing countries, excluding China, will need more than $2 trillion annually by 2030 to meet their climate and development needs.
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Developed nations historically responsible for climate change agree they need more cash, but they also want rich economies and big polluters like China to pay.
Raising that money is a “global effort,” said COP29 chief negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev. “We cannot single out any party, any country.”
“The current flow of funding is not sufficient. And regardless of who the contributors will be, the available funding for developing countries should be increased,” Rafiyev told AFP.
Taxing the rich
Behind closed doors in Bonn, the COP29 team is raising money from “innovative sources”, including fossil fuel producers who may be asked to fund climate action in vulnerable countries.
“It is a very preliminary idea, and we have already had the opportunity to discuss it with various countries and international financial institutions and UN institutions,” Babayev said, without elaborating.
Rafiyev said the form of such a means of raising funds — a tax, levy or other mechanism — had not been decided, but they did not want to “point the finger at any industry.”
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“We are listening to everyone and based on that, we will come up with a final product,” he said.
Some nations have proposed levies on the fossil fuel industry and other heavily polluting sectors such as aviation and shipping, while Brazil supports a global billionaires tax.
“COP armistice”
Azerbaijan had less than a year to prepare for the COP29 summit, which was called in December at the last minute after Russia ruled out other potential hosts.
It came just days after Azerbaijan and arch-nemesis Armenia announced they would work on a peace deal and amid raging conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Rafiyev said they would call for a “COP ceasefire” in Baku and appeal “to the international community to observe a ceasefire” for the duration of the two-week summit.
He dismissed concerns about adding another layer of complexity to climate negotiations that are notorious for struggling to reach consensus among nearly 200 nations.
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“Wars and armed conflicts, military activities, are one of the biggest emissions-producing activities and are explicitly related to the climate agenda,” Rafiyev said.
“It’s not a geopolitical or political issue. It also has a very substantial climate dimension.”
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© Agence France-Presse
Source: AFP