To the shock of many world leaders and the United Nations chief, the President of Azerbaijan took an interesting turn by suggesting that fossils were God’s gifts.
The country is hosting the world’s biggest climate summit in Baku where leaders around the world decide to make the world fossils-free.
President Ilham Aliyev defended oil and gas as “a gift of God,” rebuking what he called “Western fake news” about Azerbaijan’s emissions.
Absurd Conference
The host of the conference has been criticized by rights organizations for being one of the biggest polluters in the world.
The conference’s location in Azerbaijan has raised concerns among climate advocates, partly because Azerbaijan relied on fossil fuels.
The COP29 chairman Mukhtar Babayev’s background in the oil industry has also raised concerns around the world.
Some critics worry the conference could be used to attract investment in Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company, Socar.
