Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations COP29 Climate Change Conference Elnur Soltanov has been recorded by Global Witness apparently agreeing to help facilitate fossil fuel industry deals at the summit, reported The Guardian.
A member of the campaign organization posed as a fake oil and gas representative offering to sponsor the event in exchange for assistance with the deals.
“COP29 officials abused their positions by facilitating talks about oil and gas deals at a climate conference, pitching a dystopian future which includes fossil fuels ‘perhaps forever,’” a spokesperson for Global Witness said in a press release. “Petrostates are perfecting a sinister playbook which sees COP as just another business opportunity for polluters.”
Officials of COP29 — which begins next week in Baku, Azerbaijan — provided an introduction for the phony investor to a senior executive of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to discuss potential investments.
Soltanov, who is also Azerbaijan’s deputy energy minister, promised “to …