No Mention of Fossil Fuel Phaseout in COP29 Presidency’s Agenda

Azerbaijan’s ecology minister and COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev said climate finance, energy storage and grids and methane reduction were “top priorities” at the upcoming summit.

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Azerbaijan has unveiled a list of priorities for the upcoming climate summit, which included global energy storage, electric grids, and climate finance but left out the production and consumption of planet-warming fossil fuels.

In a letter to Parties and Constituencies published Tuesday, the COP29 Presidency outlined a series of voluntary initiatives and outcomes on its Action Agenda, laying out in full the series of pledges and declarations that it will use to supplement the negotiated COP agenda and accelerate climate action.

Climate change affects everyone differently: We face extreme heat, water scarcity, and declining water levels in the Caspian Sea that have a direct impact on our lives and livelihoods,” the letter, signed by Azerbaijan’s ecology minister and COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev, read. “But we are also a source of solutions and opportunities, such as our abundant wind and solar potential, which can play an important role in the renewable energy landscape, supporting transition to low-emissions and climate resilient development not only at the national, but also at the regional and global level, and we are determined to lead by example.

Through two initiatives – the Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF) and the Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment and Trade (BICFIT) – Azerbaijan is making climate finance its top priority. Announced in July, the CFAF will be capitalized with contributions from fossil fuel-producing countries and companies, with Azerbaijan as the founding contributor. Funds will be directed towards climate mitigation, adaptation, and R&D projects in developing countries as well as to support the next generation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to limit global warming to 1.5C as set out in the Paris Agreement.

However, there is little indication that countries will be able to agree on a new global climate fundraising goal, which a recent UN report says needs to reach at least $500 billion per year. 

The Presidency is also committing to increasing global energy storage capacity six times above 2022 levels, reaching 1,500 gigawatts by 2030, through grid enhancement; accelerating climate-positive digitalisation and emission reductions in the Information and Communication Technology sector; and reducing methane emissions from the waste sector.

The outcome Declaration will also include targets for tourism in NDCs to promote sustainability and increase the sector’s resilience as well as calls for integrated approached to combat water-related issues, as outlined in the Action Agenda.

“We have developed initiatives to address all climate pillars, involve global, regional, national and subnational groups, take a holistic view of sustainable development, and include all demographics within an inclusive process that delivers inclusive outcomes.”

In July, the Presidency unveiled the two-week agenda and thematic days, which include climate finance, youth, education, tourism and gender equality.

Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev came under fire in January after appointing a 28-member, all-men committee tasked with preparing and implementing the Action Plan related to the organization and conduct of the summit. Following widespread backlash and criticism, Aliyev later announced the addition of 12 women, bringing the total number to 40.

On Monday, 122 civil society groups led by the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), one of the nine stakeholder groups of the UNFCCC, sent a letter to the COP29 Presidency decrying the lack of progress on negotiations to renew the flagship gender action plan under the UNFCCC. The letter expresses concern about the lack of progress on the Enhanced Lima Work Programme, which aims to advance gender balance and integrate gender considerations, and criticises the lack of official response to previous efforts to raise the issue.

“The COP29 Presidency is failing to deliver for women in all their diversity, with a worrying lack of progress on negotiations to renew the Gender Action Plan,” said WGC’s Gina Cortés Valderrama. “Talks in Baku in November will only succeed if the essential groundwork is done in advance, but with only 2 months left to go, time is running out. We’re launching an urgent appeal to the Presidency to work with us to ensure climate action and gender justice go hand in hand.” 

Reactions

Several UN bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, congratulated Babayev and said they welcomed the agenda.

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the agenda “ambitious,” adding that it “further prioritizes health in the drive for stronger climate action.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships at UNICEF Van der Heijden pledged to “continue to work closely with COP29 and alongside partners to ensure Parties deliver child-responsive policies, finance and action for a better future for every child.”

Controversies

Notably, the Action Agenda did not include any mentions of phasing out planet-warming fossil fuels: coal, natural gas, and oil. This is despite the COP28 deal’s unprecedented call to “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner to achieve net-zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”

The burning of coal, natural gas, and oil for electricity and heat is the single-largest source of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the primary drivers of global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere and raising Earth’s surface temperature. Global fossil fuel consumption has more than doubled in the last 50 years as countries around the world have worked to improve their standards of living and economic output. However, scientists have long warned that curbing fossil fuel extraction and consumption is the only way to halt global warming and secure a liveable future.

The appointment of Azerbaijan, a highly fossil fuel-dependent state and the oldest oil-producing region in the world, as the COP29 host has reignited debates over the role of fossil fuels in the UN summit as it marked the third petrostate in a row to host the talks after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year and Egypt in 2022. 

Similar to last year’s talks, which were led by the head of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) Sultan Al-Jaber, Babayev has ties with the fossil fuel industry and worked at state-owned oil and gas company Socar for more than two decades.

Countless environmental groups and countries called on the UN – which organizes COP meetings – to push for the adoption of conflict of interest guidelines for the COP presidency.

In May, 26 US lawmakers said they were “deeply concerned” by Babayev’s appointment in an open letter addressed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Climate Envoy John Podesta. They also warned that Azerbaijan’s “poor human-rights record” and fossil fuel dependency could compromise the UN climate talks.

In April, Aliyev said his country will continue to invest in gas production in order to meet European Union demand for energy in a “sign of responsibility.” The remarks were part of his opening speech on the second day of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, a yearly international conference co-hosted by the German Foreign Office and the current COP presidency that brings together selected countries to prepare for the UN summit.

“Having oil and gas deposits is not our fault. It’s a gift of God,” he said. “We must be judged not by that but on how we use this resource for the development of the country, for reduction of poverty, unemployment and what is our target with respect to [the] green agenda,” Aliyev remarked.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), oil and gas account for about 90% of Azerbaijan’s exports’ revenue and 60% of the government’s budget.

Featured image: IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis.

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