By Gloria Dickie
LONDON (Reuters) – An official with the Azerbaijani chairmanship of next week’s COP29 United Nations climate summit appeared to offer to facilitate talks on new fossil fuel deals ahead of the conference, according to a secret video included by an interest group.
In an investigation first reported by the BBC, the non-profit organization Global Witness, which advocates against corruption, said it had set up a fake company to express interest in investing in Azerbaijan’s national oil and gas company SOCAR, and in sponsoring the annual climate summit. .
In the video, recorded by Global Witness, Elnur Soltanov, CEO of the COP29 talks in Baku aimed at tackling global warming, offers to notify a representative of the sham oil and gas company, called EC Capital to be made with SOCAR.
“We have a lot of pipeline infrastructure. We have a lot of gas fields that need to be developed. We have a lot of green projects that SOCAR is very interested in,” Soltanov, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Energy Minister, said in the video. . Reuters could not independently verify the video.
“There are a lot of joint ventures that could be created, potential joint ventures.
“SOCAR Trading trades oil and gas all over the world, including in Asia. For me, these are opportunities to explore. But in any case, this is something you should talk to SOCAR about, and I would like to create a contact between you and them,” says Soltanov.
SOCAR then contacted the fake oil and gas investment group and expressed interest in meeting, Global Witness said.
Soltanov did not respond to requests for comment.
SOCAR representatives could not immediately be contacted for comment late Friday.
Azerbaijan’s COP29 presidency – which hosts the summit, which is led by Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev – declined to comment to Reuters.
Oil and gas make up roughly half of Azerbaijan’s economy and 90% of its exports.
Last year, leaked documents obtained by the Center for Climate Reporting revealed that COP28 host country the United Arab Emirates planned to discuss potential and other commercial deals ahead of the UN climate talks. At the time, COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s highest representative, denied the allegations.
“If this is the second year in a row in which petro states have been able to assume the presidency and use (their) position as president to advance fossil fuel interests, then I think this raises big questions for the UN and the kind of rules and guidelines that are in place for how countries operate in the exercise of this presidency,” said Simon Roach, senior researcher at Global Witness.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
COP29, which starts on Monday (NASDAQ:), is expected to help countries build on an agreement struck in Dubai last year to transition away from fossil fuels.
