Secret filming at COP29 shows senior executive discussing potential fossil fuel deal: Report

The CEO of COP29 has been filmed seemingly agreeing to facilitate fossil fuel deals at the climate summit, intensifying calls from campaigners to ban the fossil fuel industry and its lobbyists from future COP talks.

According to a BBC report, a secret recording reveals Elnur Soltanov, the CEO of Azerbaijan’s COP29 team, discussing “investment opportunities” with an individual posing as a prospective investor in the country’s state-run oil and gas sector.

“We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed,” BBC quoted Soltanov as saying.

Speaking to the BBC, a former head of the UN body overseeing climate talks called Soltanov’s actions “completely unacceptable” and a “betrayal” of the COP process.

Soltanov, who serves as both CEO of Azerbaijan’s COP29 team and deputy energy minister, is also on the board of the state oil company, Socar.

Azerbaijan’s COP29 team has not commented on the allegations, the report added.

Oil and gas make up about half of Azerbaijan’s economy and over 90% of its exports, according to the report, citing US figures.

COP29, the 29th annual UN climate summit, will open in Baku on Monday, where world leaders will discuss climate action.

However, this is the second consecutive year the BBC has uncovered potential misconduct by the host government.

The BBC obtained documents and secret recordings from the human rights group Global Witness. A representative of the group posed as the head of a fictitious Hong Kong energy investment firm, seeking to sponsor COP29 in exchange for discussions on investment opportunities in Socar.

In a recorded online meeting, Soltanov framed the summit’s goal as addressing the climate crisis and transitioning away from fossil fuels. But he also emphasised that “anyone, including oil and gas companies,” was welcome to bring “solutions”—and expressed openness to talks about potential deals, including in oil and gas, reported BBC.

Initially, Soltanov suggested the potential sponsor might be interested in investing in “green transitioning projects” with Socar, but quickly moved to opportunities linked to Azerbaijan’s plans to boost gas production and new pipeline infrastructure.

“There are a lot of joint ventures that could be established,” Soltanov says in the recording. “Socar is trading oil and gas all over the world, including in Asia,” he added.

He also called natural gas a “transitional fuel,” adding, “We will have a certain amount of oil and natural gas being produced, perhaps forever.”

According to BBC, while the UN’s climate science body acknowledges a role for oil and gas through 2050, it has stressed that “developing… new oil and gas fields is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5C.”

This contradicts global commitments made at the last climate summit to transition away from fossil fuels, the report added.

Soltanov appeared eager to facilitate the deal, telling the potential sponsor, “I would be happy to create a contact between your team and their team (Socar) so that they can start discussions.”

A couple of weeks later, the fake Hong Kong investment firm received an email from Socar to follow up on the lead.

Attempting to broker business deals during COP is a serious breach of conduct expected of COP officials. These events are meant to focus on reducing fossil fuel use—not expanding it.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets strict standards for COP officials, requiring impartiality and fairness. Its code of conduct states that officials must “act without bias, prejudice, favouritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference.”

Christiana Figueres, who led the 2015 Paris Agreement, told the BBC that she was shocked by Soltanov’s actions, calling them “contrary and egregious” to COP’s mission and “a treason” to the process.

With inputs from agencies