As world fights fossil fuels in Baku, Aliyev calls it ‘a gift of God’

World leaders are converging Tuesday at the United Nations annual climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan although the big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent, unlike past climate talks, The Washington Times writes.

As noted, 2024’s COP29 climate talks are more like the International Chess Federation world championship, lacking the recognizable names but big on nerd power and strategy. The top leaders of the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries will not appear. Their nations are responsible for more than 70% of 2023’s heat-trapping gasses. “The people who are responsible for this are absent,” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during his speech at the summit.

Host Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev kicked off two scheduled days of world leaders’ speeches by lambasting Armenia, western news media, climate activists and critics who highlighted his country’s rich oil and gas history and trade, calling them hypocritical. Aliyev said oil and gas are “a gift of God” just like the sun, wind and minerals. “Countries should not be blamed for having them. And should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market because the market needs them,” he noted. Rev. Fletcher Harper, of GreenFaith, in a statement, called out the reference to religion and instead called fossil fuels “literally the highway to hell for billions of people and the planet.”