Paul Campbell’s Post

COP29 is well underway. It might be fair to say the conference leaves a little to be desired. 1. The host country is ramping up fossil fuel gas Azerbaijan is planning to boost production by a third over the next decade, and the country's president called fossil fuel reserves 'a gift from god'. 2. COP29's chief executive was filmed offering investment opportunities in Azerbaijan's oil and gas industry The chief executive of COP29 and deputy energy minister of Azerbaijan, Elnur Soltanov, was filmed by Global Witness offering to set up meetings at COP for what he believed to be a Hong Kong investment company. 3. The big polluters are not attending Conspicuous by their absence are China, India, and Germany. The US delegation is also from an administration that has a matter of weeks left in power, soon to be replaced by one that is skeptical about climate change. #COP29 #NetZero #ESG

"A treason" but not surprising! If we keep allowing arsonists to host the fire fighting conventions, then COP will continue to be a platform for deals that fly in the face of the Paris Agreement and betray the COP process. The host of COP29, Azerbaijan, has seen an 11% INCREASE in gas flaring at oil and gas installations since 2018, despite a pledge to eliminate this entirely by 2030. The access to investment opportunities outlined in this video, show the stated intent to reduce emissions is quite the opposite from the ambition. #cop29 #parisagreement #carbonreduction #climatecrisis #climatebetrayal https://lnkd.in/eTjdyYMM

Choosing oil-producing countries to host the COP is by definition not a good idea, given that their objective is to produce every last drop of oil and every last cm3 of gas. After the United Arab Emirates were caught last year discussing fossil fuel agreements at COP, here is a recording highlighted by the BBC of the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 Azerbaijan team, Elnur Soltanov, discussing "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor. The UN climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC has made very clear that "developing… new oil and gas fields is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5C". It also goes against the agreement the world made at the last global climate summit to transition away from fossil fuels. As long as the oil and gas sector is not seriously engaged in a transition to the end of production, its representatives have no place at the COP climate. #climateaction UNFCCC UN

We are two days until #COP29, with hopes of negotiation on climate finance and new collective quantified goal(NCQG), national adaptation plans, growing the loss and damage fund, phasing out of fossil fuels, amongst others. A report from BBC News has broke out of a senior official at COP29 Azerbaijan who has used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss fossil fuel deals 👇 https://lnkd.in/db9GqkrE This is coming at a time when we are clamoring for transitioning to clean energy and the phasing out of fossil fuel, in our community greatly impacted 👇 https://lnkd.in/dJXRZw82. This conference aims to solve the climate crisis and transition away from hydrocarbons in a just, orderly, and equitable manner. What is the hope of our community that has been greatly affected by the fossil fuel companies and have sent us to represent and speak on their behalf? Should we call COP29 a failed one going by this report and the breach of the code of conduct for COP29? What are your thoughts?

World’s Largest Oil and Gas Networking Event About to Start! “Grab your last minute flight ticket to the COP party in Azerbajan. It’s a bargain! Only costs 1.4 tonnes of CO2 from London and a very modest 3.8 tonnes from New York! Don’t worry though, your home solar array should save that much in carbon emissions by 2035. In a few days time you too could be sipping free glasses of chardonnnay with 50,000 other lucky guests. While you’re kicking back don’t miss your chance to sign a new oil deal – just drop a line to our CEO and we will get straight back to you! Have fun in sunny Baku!” Yes! Its that time again. COP28 starts on Monday! Another COP car crash is firmly on the cards as the Chief Executive of the UN climate change event is caught on camera promoting deals to sell more oil and gas. Disgusting as this revelation is, it is not unsurprising. Similar issues were revealed at COP28. The idiocy is in the COP process. For crying out loud when will someone in the United Nations get a grip and either bin the COP process or wildly reform it. There have been 28 COPs, soon to be 29, and what has happened since the first one – we have actually increased carbon emissions 60% since COP1 in 1995 and they are still going up! The COP process is actually preventing progress while at the same time ensuring 200,000 tonnes of flight emissions are delivered directly into the atmosphere at high altitude where they can be most effective in driving warming. We have tried this 28 times, and it has not worked. The Paris Accord is the best result so far and it is weak and ineffective. Emissions are still rising nearly ten years later. 2050 was always a ridiculously late target for net zero for well financed stable developed nations and major international corporations. Our insistence on talking about 2050 net zero is not just greenwash it is utter “hogwash”. Let’s get a grip! Top of today's to-do list 1) fire COP29's chief Elnur Soltanov today; 2) ban fossil fuel negotiators from attending COP29... In the future ensure COPs are not given again to petrostates and reduce the number of representatives from each country to 3 (saving 199,000 tonnes of emissions on flights and keeping the cork in 50,000 bottles of chardonnay). #cop29 #parisagreement #netzero2050 #netzero2030 #baku #azerbajan #carbonemissions The Climate Party BBC News ITV Skynewsuk.com https://lnkd.in/eetJr_5F

This is the first time, #COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev lays out his vision for this years climate conference in his opinion piece for the Guardian. What's in it? 1️⃣ The big decision, the New Finance Goal scheduled for COP29 receives little space: He highlights a decision on the NCQG can rebuild trust to then be “reconfirmed through the next two Cops” - interesting take 2️⃣ Its very broad: Electric vehicle usage & coal electricity soared in 2023 in the context of conflict without elaborating on the link though. Interesting to note, that a focus on coal is convenient for a gas expander. Watch out how "conflicts" will shape rhetoric. 3️⃣ Babayev makes a few commitments by Azerbaijan ▶️Join Global Methane Pledge ▶️Move from fossil exports to RE (with foreign investment) ▶️Boost solar in post conflict zones (see 4️⃣ ) No mention of Azerbaijans massive fossil fuel expansion plans though 4️⃣ Many might find it hard to get behind a positive solar story in "post-conflict zones" knowing the military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh & the surrounding areas, Azerbaijan de facto forced over 100,000 Karabakh Armenians to flee to Armenia (https://lnkd.in/gadHgFBR) (see e.g.https://https://lnkd.in/g3qz28AV

BBC, "COP29 chief exec filmed promoting fossil fuel deals,” by Justin Rowlatt, 11/8/2024, https://lnkd.in/e9rxNVRB "A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals, the BBC can report. "A secret recording shows the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 team, Elnur Soltanov, discussing "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor. ""We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed," he says. "A former head of the UN body responsible for the climate talks told the BBC that Soltanov's actions were "completely unacceptable" and a "betrayal" of the COP process. "As well as being the chief executive of COP29, Soltanov is also the deputy energy minister of Azerbaijan and is on the board of Socar. "Azerbaijan's COP29 team has not responded to a request for comment. "Oil and gas accounts for about half of Azerbaijan's total economy and more than 90% of its exports, according to US figures. "COP29 will open in Baku on Monday and is the 29th annual UN climate summit, where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for climate change, and raise global ambition to tackle the issue…. "Attempting to do business deals as part of the COP process appears to be a serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of a COP official. "These events are supposed to be about reducing the world's use of fossil fuels – the main driver of climate change – not selling more. "The standards are set by the UN body responsible for the climate negotiations, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). "The UN said it could not comment directly on our findings but remarked that "the same rigorous standards" are applied to whoever hosts the conference, and that those standards reflect "the importance of impartiality on the part of all presiding officers”. "Its code of conduct for COP officials states they are "expected to act without bias, prejudice, favouritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference, strictly based on sound, independent and fair judgement. "They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as a UNFCCC officer.” "Christiana Figueres, who oversaw the signing of the 2015 Paris agreement to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C, told the BBC that she was shocked anyone in the COP process would use their position to strike oil and gas deals. "She said such behaviour was "contrary and egregious" to the the purpose of COP and "a treason" to the process."

Global leaders gathered for the UN's COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan to wrangle over the future of decarbonisation and climate finance for vulnerable communities. Never short of a controversy or two, an LNG-linked skirmish also surfaced: a Canadian First Nations Group strongly denied reports that it had tried to secure LNG deals at the summit. Elsewhere, the CFO of Germany's RWE predicted the country would remain focused on the energy transition but with a significant emphasis on "cost and competitiveness". #GasMattersToday #COP29 #EnergyTransition https://lnkd.in/eBiQ2ydt

As the UN climate summit kicks off in Baku, #Azerbaijan, its leader has vowed to move "towards a green agenda" while exploiting oil reserves deemed "a gift from god". Rick Spence gives us a primer on an authoritarian petrostate that is stepping into the spotlight as host of #COP29. Azerbaijan leaders were also recently exposed in an undercover investigation by Global Witness for using their COP leadership position to facilitate meetings with oil and gas producers. #climatecrisis #oilandgas #fossilfuels https://lnkd.in/duT8mpBP

🌍COP29 chief exec filmed promoting fossil fuel deals A senior official at the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan allegedly arranged discussions on fossil fuel investments. A secret recording reveals Elnur Soltanov, the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 team, talking about "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor. "We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed," he stated. Critics have condemned his actions as "completely unacceptable" and a "betrayal" of the conference’s mission. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eeizD36a #COP29 #ClimateAction #FossilFuels #Sustainability