Germany accuses Azerbaijan of supporting COP29 oil and gas hijacking

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Germany accused COP29 host Azerbaijan of supporting an attempt by fossil fuel producers to hijack the world’s most important climate change summit, delaying the talks by almost a day.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock warned that “a few fossil fuel states” were attempting a “geopolitical power play” in Baku. In Baku, nearly 200 countries are debating new climate finance targets and how to move away from oil. , gas and coal.

Sources involved in the talks told the Financial Times that countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia are trying to block any mention of last year’s deal to transition away from fossil fuels. That’s what it means.

“It is clear who is pulling the strings as the COP29 Presidency,” said one person involved in the negotiations.

The United Nations climate change summit has been overshadowed by US President Donald Trump’s victory. His election has heightened concerns that global climate action could be rolled back in what is expected to be the hottest year on record.

Speaking in Baku, Burbock said oil and gas producing countries were playing a game “with the poorest and most vulnerable countries.”

“We in the European Union will not accept a deal that comes at the expense of those who suffer most from the climate crisis,” she said.

“We will not allow our most vulnerable people to be exploited by a small number of fossil fuel producing countries currently supported by the COP29 Presidency.”

Azerbaijan relies on fossil fuels for export revenue to support its economy, but President Ilham Aliyev even praised the country’s “God-given” oil and gas in his speech at the opening of COP29.

The COP29 Presidency team, led by Environment and Natural Resources Minister Mukhtar Babayev, declined to comment. Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment, and a source close to the Russian delegation said it had no comment.

Last week, G20 countries failed to explicitly mention fossil fuel dumping in their leaders’ declarations at their meeting in Rio de Janeiro. In September, Saudi Arabia and other oil and gas producers were also accused in New York of trying to block references to fossil fuels in the so-called UN Future Agreement.

In Baku, wealthy Western countries are under fire over a $250 billion climate finance proposal that has been branded inappropriate and insulting by poorer countries.

Panamanian delegation head Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez said the EU was playing a “game” by ensuring negotiations dragged on.

“This is what they always do,” he said Saturday. “They crush us at the last minute. . . . They keep pushing until the negotiators leave, until we get tired, until we don’t eat or sleep and are paranoid.”

The funding target, aimed at helping developing countries transition to green energy and adapt to a warming world, was expected to be increased to $300 billion in Saturday night’s negotiations.

However, at the stadium where the summit was being held, demonstrators chanted, “It’s better to have no deal than a bad deal” and urged the G77 developing group to leave. The G77 is calling for at least $500 billion in funding.

Mr Burbock rejected criticism of the low-cost proposal, arguing that no amount of money would be enough without emissions reductions.