The future president of the 29th UN climate conference in Azerbaijan, Mukhtar Babayev, told AFP on Friday that his country would continue to increase its production of gas, “a transition energy,” to meet international demand, “in parallel” with its investments in renewable energies.
Balancing Gas Production and Renewables
In an interview with AFP in Bonn, Babayev defended Azerbaijan’s strategy, the second oil and gas power in a row to preside over climate negotiations after the United Arab Emirates last year, despite the renewed call by UN chief Antonio Guterres to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels, the main cause of global warming.
“We plan to increase natural gas volumes over several years, but at the same time, our renewable energy projects,” said the former executive of the national oil company Socar, justifying the increase in gas exports in 2023 of his country by “the demand of the European Union to ensure its energy security.”
Azerbaijan’s “Gift from the Gods”
A few months after the unprecedented COP28 agreement on a “just transition (…) towards a phase-out of fossil fuels,” Ilham Aliyev, the authoritarian president of Azerbaijan, described in April the gas reserves of his country as a “gift from the gods,” joining the recurring discourse of most developing countries wishing to exploit the manna under their feet.
The organizers of COP29 also announced Ilham Aliyev’s intention to call on the whole world to observe a ceasefire during the two weeks of the conference in Baku (November 11-22), one year after the lightning offensive led by his troops against a separatist enclave supported by Armenia.
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“Wars and armed conflicts, military activities, are one of the most important emission-generating activities and are explicitly linked to the climate agenda,” said Ialchin Rafiev, chief negotiator of COP29.
A “Global Effort” for Climate Finance
Alongside him, Mukhtar Babayev expressed his hope that his presidency of the COP would lead to a new agreement on financial aid paid by rich countries to developing countries so that they invest in clean energy and adapt to global warming, a major sticking point in the negotiations.
This issue is the most burning in the ongoing negotiations in Bonn, near the headquarters in Germany of UN Climate, where diplomats meet every year in June halfway between two COPs.
Developing countries want to multiply the previous target of one hundred billion dollars per year, paid by rich countries under their historical responsibility for global warming.
Donors, mainly Western countries and Japan, want China and the Gulf countries to also contribute.
For Ialchin Rafiev, unlocking these funds remains a “global effort” and “we cannot point to one part or one country in particular.”
“The current financial flow is insufficient. And regardless of the contributors, the funds available for developing countries must be increased,” he said.
“Innovative” Taxes for Climate Action
In Bonn, the COP29 presidency proposed to find money from “innovative sources,” which could include asking fossil fuel producers to finance climate action in poorer countries.
“This is a very preliminary idea, and we have already had the opportunity to discuss it with different countries, international financial institutions, and United Nations institutions,” explained Babayev, without saying whether he is thinking of a tax or another mechanism, and insisting that it does not target any “particular sector.”
“We are listening to everyone and, on this basis, we will propose a final product,” he said.
Other countries have proposed introducing taxes on the oil industry and other polluting sectors such as aviation and maritime transport, while Brazil, as G20 president, is considering a global tax on billionaires.
Azerbaijan’s Last-Minute Designation for COP29
Azerbaijan was designated in December at the last minute to organize this COP, at the end of a geopolitical deadlock with Russia.
This designation came a few days after Azerbaijan and Armenia announced the opening of peace talks, in a tense international context because of the war in Ukraine and Gaza.