COP29 Host Calls Oil & Gas Energy a 'Gift of God'

Azerbaijan's president said countries should not be blamed for having oil, gas and other natural resources or bringing them to the market.

The president of COP29’s host country told the UN climate conference that oil and gas are a "gift of god."

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev criticised "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."

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Some observers had expressed concerns about the world’s largest climate conference taking place in Azerbaijan.

Its minister for ecology and natural resources — a former oil executive who spent 26 years at Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company Socar — is the conference's chairman.

There are also concerns that Azerbaijani officials are using COP29 to boost investment in the country’s national oil and gas company.

But 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".

Meanwhile, scores of energy deals are being struck at the latest round of global climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, which has drawn in 60,000 delegates, including many from the worlds of business and finance.

Below is a selection of the deals struck during the event.

MDBs

A group of the world's leading multilateral development banks, including the World Bank and European Investment Bank, said they collectively plan to increase climate-related lending to poor and middle-income countries to $120 billion a year.

ADB

The Asian Development Bank told Reuters it plans to invest up to an extra $7.2 billion in climate-related projects after the United States and Japan agreed to underwrite some of its existing sovereign loans.

ACUMEN

Non-profit investor Acumen said it plans to invest $300 million over five years to support agricultural adaptation projects in East and West Africa, India, Latin America, and Pakistan.

Acumen belongs to the impact group of sustainable investors, meaning they have to deliver measurable change.

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FINANCING ASIA'S TRANSITION PARTNERSHIP

A public-private-philanthropic initiative led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, launched at the COP28 talks in Dubai and targeting $5 billion across several projects, said it had agreed next steps with partners.

Among them, the Industrial Transformation infrastructure debt program will see it work with the International Finance Corporation, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, AIA Group and BlackRock.

Another, the Green Investments partnership, would see Pentagreen Capital, a joint venture between lender HSBC and Singaporean state investor Temasek, look to invest up to $1 billion in sustainable infrastructure.

CLIMATE INVESTMENT FUNDS

CIF, which offers highly concessional money to climate projects that in turn helps to attract other multilateral and private lenders, listed a bond issuance program on the London Stock Exchange. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the fund would generate $75 billion over 10 years.