Tag Archives: COP29

COP29 Host Nation President: “Having oil and gas … It’s a gift from God.”

From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

h/t strativarius, Breitbart; Greens are once again pinning their hopes on a November climate conference hosted by a nation whose President plans to boost gas production.

COP29 Host Azerbaijan Says Its Fossil Fuel Is ‘Gift From God’

  • President Aliyev commits to boosting investments in gas
  • Country also touts its rollout of green energies this decade

By John Ainger
26 April 2024 at 8:24 PM AEST

Azerbaijan, host of this year’s COP29 climate summit, will continue to invest in increasing gas production in order to feed demand from Europe as its president said that its abundant fossil fuels were a “gift from God.”

President Ilham Aliyev said at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin that oil and gas would be needed for “many more years” as the country prepares to host the 29th United Nations’ Conference of the Parties, or COP29, in Baku later this year. He highlighted an agreement reached with the European Union to scale up supplies of natural gas to help make up for Russian shortfalls after its invasion of Ukraine.

…Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-26/cop29-host-azerbaijan-says-its-fossil-fuel-is-gift-of-the-gods

Are COP hosts chosen on the basis of how much the choice will upset greens?

Can you imagine what it must be like to be a green climate true believer? To believe that concerted global action is the only hope to save the world, to build up hope every year, only to see those hopes dashed, as each COP conference attempts to outdo the last in farcical mockery of climate tropes?

How can COP30 possibly top this comedy moment? Ask General Aladeen of Wadiya to host a COP conference? Obviously there is a minor problem that General Aladeen is a fictional character, but what better person to host a fictional climate conference?

Malawi COP29 Frustration: Rich Nation Parliaments Need to Debate OUR Climate Cash NOW

From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

Like rich nations have nothing better to do than discuss than giving big climate handouts to poor nations which have a shameful corruption index score.

For Cop29 to succeed, rich nations must get their parliaments to agree more finance now 

Published on 30/01/2024, 2:49pm

Rich nations always say they need their parliaments approval for climate finance at Cops – now is the time to start

By Evans Njewa

Although 2024 has just begun, the coming months will determine if Cop29 will be a success and whether benefits will trickle down to vulnerable communities in developing countries.

The Cop29 summit in Baku in November will focus on climate finance. 

Government negotiators in the Global North always tell us that their ambition on finance depends on their parliaments.

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They stress that they have no mandate, or possibility to scale up funds, as parliaments will not approve.   

So, as parliamentarian debates about budgets and allocations begin early in the year, they need to act now.  

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Without more grant-based funding, our plans to adapt to climate change and cut emissions will not be implemented; our efforts to ensure green and sustainable growth and development will not be successful and our possibilities to address the growing threat of climate-related loss and damage will never occur.

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Evans Njewa is the chair of the Least Developed Countries group and an official in Malawi’s environment ministry.

Read more: https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/01/30/for-cop29-success-rich-nations-must-get-their-parliaments-to-agree-more-finance-now/

The author is “chair of the Least Developed Countries group”.

Why are those countries so undeveloped?

Malawi has lots of sunlight, good agricultural land and abundant rainfall in the wet season.

But there are problems in paradise. Transparency.org, which tracks global corruption, paints a bleak picture of Malawi corruption. 72% of surveyed locals thought corruption had increased in the last 12 months. 28% of public service users admitted they had paid a bribe.

From the Heritage Index of Economic Freedom :- Economic expansion remains fragile in the absence of a dynamic private sector. Malawi lags in competitiveness and promotion of the broad-based economic activity that is needed to reduce poverty. The poor quality of physical and legal infrastructure, made worse by the government’s inefficiency, is a serious impediment to long-term economic development.

Somehow I doubt a plane load of climate cash would help improve this situation.

Officials like Evans Njewa should put their energy into fixing Malawi’s domestic problems, to encourage more development, instead of demanding handouts from other countries.

COP29 Host Azerbaijan Accused of Greenwashing

From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

Critics have pointed out their new green energy agency needs a zero carbon transition plan to be credible.

Cop29 host Azerbaijan launches green energy unit to sceptical response 

Published on 25/01/2024, 1:08pm

Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas firm promises a green push but a lack of climate policies and plans to expand gas production are causing scepticism

By Matteo Civillini

Roaming around what is believed to be modern-day Baku over 700 years ago, the explorer Marco Polo gazed with wonder at “a spring from which gushes a stream of oil, in such abundance that a hundred ships may load there at once”.

The birthplace of crude refining, Azerbaijan has embedded fossil fuels in the fabric of its society for centuries. Oil, and more recently, gas have never stopped flowing from the vast reservoirs dotted around the Caspian basin.

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But as it gears up to host the Cop29 UN climate summit in November, Azerbaijan wants to show the world a different image. Burnishing its clean energy credentials through its state-owned oil and gas company, Socar, is part of the plan.

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“A green division is meaningless for the climate without an accompanying plan to phase out oil and gas”, Myriam Douo, a senior campaigner with Oil Change International, told Climate Home. “The reality is that to avoid catastrophic climate breakdown more than half of fossil fuels in existing fields must stay in the ground”.

…Read more: https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/01/25/cop29-host-azerbaijan-launches-green-energy-unit-to-sceptical-response/

I think greens are being unduly harsh in their criticism of Azerbaijan. A COP conference host country hatching its first ever green plan should be encouraged as baby steps, not sneered at.

Lets not forget, the Azerbaijanis are a considerate people, I’m sure they’ll remember to provide space for a few green workshops in the middle of all the oil, gas and international arms sales negotiations.

Azerbaijan tipped to host COP29 climate talks

Oil-reliant Azerbaijan chosen to host Cop29 climate talks The Eastern European group of countries has chosen Baku, Azerbaijan to host next year’s Cop29 climate talks, according to two sources in the Cop28 meeting room where the decision was made.

By Kate Abnett, Alexander Cornwell and Elizabeth Piper

DUBAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan is tipped to host next year’s U.N. climate summit, after striking a late deal with longtime adversary Armenia over its bid. Reuters has the story.

While some diplomats said other countries including Russia – which has blocked other host candidates – were expected to back Baku’s bid, there was no official confirmation from Moscow on Friday. The issue is still being negotiated at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.

The decision over who will take over from current COP28 host, the United Arab Emirates, has been in an unprecedented geopolitical deadlock, after Russia said it would veto any European Union country’s bid to host. The EU has sanctioned Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Azerbaijan is not an EU member.

Azerbaijan confirmed late on Thursday it had struck a deal with Armenia that allows Baku to bid to host the COP29 talks without the threat of an Armenian veto.

The choice of a COP host needs support from all countries in the U.N.’s eastern Europe regional group.

“We received particular support from most of the countries [in the eastern European group]. Russia has also supported our bid,” Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada said on Friday.

A representative for Russia’s delegation at COP28 declined to comment. Russia’s Energy Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Azerbaijan is an oil and gas producer and a member of OPEC+.

The United Arab Emirates has faced criticism for appointing Sultan al-Jaber, the head of its state-run oil company ADNOC, as president of this year’s COP28 summit.

Some delegates at COP28 have raised concerns about holding the world’s climate negotiations in an oil producer for a second year running.

“I do understand these concerns,” Hajizada said.

“Despite the fact that Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas, Azerbaijan’s strategic goals are the diversification of energy, resources, especially applied to wind and solar energy,” he said.

Read the full article here.