BAKU, Azerbaijan: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev lashed out at Westerners who criticize his country’s oil and gas industry in his opening speech at the COP29 climate summit, saying the industry was the victim of a “well-planned campaign of slander and blackmail.”

The comments came on the second day of a summit where nearly 200 countries gathered to discuss how to cut fossil fuel emissions, and just minutes before United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said doubling down on fossil fuels was a ridiculous strategy.

The airing of these opposing views on the main stage underscores the challenge at the heart of climate negotiations: Many Western states remain dependent on fossil fuels while trying to pressure others that produce them to switch to greener energy sources.

At the same time, the Dutch appeals court issued a decision. Landmark climate decision in favor of oil and gas company Shellrejects orders to sharply reduce emissions.

Azerbaijan’s oil and gas revenues accounted for 35 percent of its economy in 2023, up from 50 percent two years ago. The government says these revenues will drop to 22 percent by 2028.

“Of course, as president of COP29, we will be a strong advocate for a green transition, and we are doing that. But we also have to be realistic,” he said of his country’s oil and gas resources. “God’s gift”.

“Countries should not be blamed for having these, and they should not be blamed for putting these resources on the market, because the market needs them. The people need them.”

He was particularly critical of the United States, the world’s largest historical carbon emitter, and the European Union.

“Unfortunately, double standards, the habit of lecturing other countries and political hypocrisy have become a kind of modus operandi for some politicians, state-controlled NGOs and fake news media in some Western countries,” he said.

The United States is the world’s largest oil and gas producer. European countries, meanwhile, have some of the world’s toughest targets to cut emissions by 2030 but have also raced to secure new gas supplies after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ignoring President Aliyev’s words, US national climate advisor Ali Zaidi said the world would meet its climate goals if every country decarbonized at the US pace. The EU declined to comment.