The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, highlighted, this Tuesday in Baku, which is hosting the UN climate COP, the vital role of hydrocarbons in development, calling them a “gift from God”.
“Quote me when I say it’s a gift from God. I want to repeat it here today, in front of this audience,” Ilham Aliev said at the opening of a summit of world leaders at COP29.
“Any natural resource, oil, gas, wind, solar, gold, silver, copper: these are natural resources and countries should not be blamed for having them and providing them to the markets, because the markets need them” .
As host country of COP29, “we will also be fierce defenders of a green transition (…) But at the same time we must be realistic,” stressed Mr. Aliev.
Describing Azerbaijan as an “oil state” “is not fair and demonstrates a lack of culture and political knowledge,” defended the president, stressing that the country represents 0.7% of world production of oil. oil and 0.9% of that of gas.
Upon the appointment of our country as host of COP29, “we became the target of a coordinated and well-orchestrated campaign of defamation and blackmail by Western media, so-called independent NGOs and certain politicians,” he thundered again in front of the heads of state gathered in the Olympic stadium in Baku.
Azerbaijan's president first called gas reserves a “gift from God” in April.
APS
