A senior official for the upcoming Conference of the Parties ( COP) meeting in Azerbaijan appears to have used his position as COP29’s chief executive to convene meetings with potential investors in the Azerbaijani oil and gas sectors.
Advertisement
Azerbaijan’s energy production accounts for 60 % of the nation’s economy. Elnur Soltanov, deputy energy minister of Azerbaijan and chief executive of COP29, was secretly recorded discussing “investment opportunities” in the state-owned fossil fuel company, the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan ( SOCAR ).
” We have a lot of oil areas that are to be developed”, he says.
Soltanov participated in a press sting spearheaded by Global Witness, a worldwide anti-corruption organization. They set up a false business that posed as engaged in SOCAR investment.
Oil and gas are traded by SOCAR Trading all over the world, including Asia. To me, these are the options to investigate. However, you must be speaking to SOCAR, and I’m glad to make contact with them, Soltanov was allegedly telling the fictitious company representative.
According to Global Witness, SOCAR finally reached out to the phony oil and gas investment party and expressed interest in a conference.
Soltanov explained to the potential partner at the meeting that the conference’s goals were “resolving the weather crisis” and” transitioning away from hydrocarbons in a only, ordered, and equal manner.”
Someone, he said, including oil and gas companies,” may come with options” because Azerbaijan’s “doors are empty”.
He did, however, state that he was also available to debate of discounts, including those involving oil and gas.
First, Soltanov suggested the potential partner may be interested in investing in some of the “green switching projects” Socar was involved in- but finally spoke of opportunities related to Azerbaijan’s plans to increase oil output, including new network infrastructure.
Advertisement
Last month, another petro-state tried to use its status as sponsor of the COP28 to drum up a small business for their land.
According to Simon Roach, a senior investigator with Global Witness,” If this is the second year in a row where petro-states have been able to take on the presidency and have been able to use ( their ) position as president to further fossil fuel interests, then I think that does raise significant questions for the U.N. and the kind of rules and guidelines in place for how countries go about carrying out this presidency.”
The term refers to “endemic fraud on a celestial scale.” More from the BBC:
It appears that trying to enter into business offers as part of the COP process is a major disobey of the expectations of a COP standard.
The primary cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, but these activities are not intended to sell more.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC), the brain responsible for the climate negotiations, sets the standards.
The UN noted that” the same demanding requirements” are applied to whoever hosts the convention, and that those requirements reflect” the importance of fairness on the part of all presiding officials,” but that it was not able to comment directly on our results.
Often, world leaders attend the COP meeting every year. They can mingle with famous people and revel in the warmth of phony kindness.  ,
Advertisement
But the shine may have come off COP sessions. When the meeting begins on Monday, several world leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emanuel Macron, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, wo n’t be present.  ,
Scholz has a really good reason. His decision coalition , only collapsed. With Donald Trump’s arrival into the White House, the others are likely to feel the inevitable fate of the weather change gravy train.
