Azerbaijan is being slated for failing to lead the COP29 summit, which was expected to disappoint even before it started.

Given the job at the last minute as Ukraine and Russia’s supporters couldn’t agree on a neutral venue, the government was only given one year to prepare instead of the usual two, but even after the event started, participants are complaining that Azeri negotiators are few on the ground, and the government seems more interested in cutting gas deals than stopping global warming.

That perception has been made worse by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s provocative opening speech, where he said “gas is a gift of God” and caused a stir at the COP29 summit when he lambasted the West with a rant against Western “hypocrisy” and its colonialists attitudes.

Two days later, he tore into France and the Netherlands for what he described as “repression” and ongoing “colonial rule”, as well as singling out EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who likened the emerging world to a “jungle” in an arrogant statement last year.

‘What can we expect from the European Parliament and PACE if Europe's leading diplomat Josep Borrel called Europe a garden and the rest of the world a jungle. Well, if we are a jungle, then stand aside and do not interfere in our internal affairs!’ Aliyev said in the conclusion of his emotional speech.

Aliyev’s remarks tally closely with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent Valdai speech, where the Russian president reiterated his “multipolar” world view and also harped on about the West’s colonialist attitudes and the two-track world, where the rich demean to “lead” the developing markets, but frequently ignore its own values. The Global South have been shocked at the US and European support for what many see as genocide in Gaza by the Israelis, which stand in sharp contrast to their “principled” support of Ukraine.

"Unfortunately double standards, a habit to lecture other countries and political hypocrisy became kind of modus operandi for some politicians, state-controlled NGOs and fake news media in some Western countries,” Aliyev said as cited by Politico, in an unusual shift from the diplomatic tone typical of opening COP speeches to a politically loaded diatribe against the West.

Aliyev has also been accused of double standards, as human rights groups criticised the venue for COP29, due to the Aliyev families obvious corruption. An Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report released ahead of COP29 detailed how the family has enriched itself from the gas business, with little of the wealth it generates trickling down to the ordinary Azeris.

The EU can also be accused of double standards as during Europe’s energy crisis in 2022, after the EU was cut off from Russian gas, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travelled to Baku to cut a gas deal with Azerbaijan, and likewise ignored Aliyev’s terrible human rights record. Currently, Azerbaijan is delivering 13bn cubic metres of gas to Europe but plans to increase that to 20 bcm in the future.

“It was not our idea,” Aliyev asserted, referring to Azerbaijan’s expanded gas exports to Europe. “It was a proposal of the European Commission.”

Azerbaijan is already a major supplier and can possibly replace Ukraine, which is due to end its gas transit deal from Russia to Europe at the end of this year and currently sends 15 bcm of gas to the EU.

It seems the main focus of COP29 this year is to increase the use of gas, led by Azerbaijan’s deal making, not reduce it.

"Countries should not be blamed for having them and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market because the market needs them," he declared. "The people need them."

Emissions are currently at an all-time high and the UN warns that with current policies, the world is on track to see a “catastrophic” 3.1C increase in temperatures by the 2050 deadline, according to United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate models. The tragedy in Valencia and similar events elsewhere is going to become an annual event as a result.

Last year at the COP28, the world’s leaders promised to “transition away from fossil fuels” for the first time. But instead, the US in particular is now producing more oil and gas than at any time in its history and has approved hundreds of new exploration licences, despite the International Energy Agency (IEA) recommending that no new projects be launched at all if the world is to have any hope of staying under the Paris Agreement target of 1.5C increase in temperatures by 2050.

And instead of the agenda being headlined by realistic plans to reduce the combustion of oil and gas, the main focus of the conference is currently wrangling over how to increase the $100bn allotted for developing market investment into green-tech to at least $41 trillion.

At COP28, the United Arab Emirates argued that oil and gas would remain critical to the global economy for years to come, and Azerbaijan is continuing that theme. Genuine concerns for the accelerating Climate Crisis appear to play little role in this year’s conference either.

Annoyed by Aliyev’s criticisms, EU officials have proforma urged the talks in Baku to strengthen last year’s commitments to phase out fossil fuels, while leaving the deal with Aliyev in place.

Azerbaijan’s economy remains heavily reliant on oil and gas, with fossil fuels accounting for nearly half of the nation’s GDP and 92.5% of export revenue in 2022, according to the US International Trade Administration.

While Aliyev claimed his government supports the transition to green energy, he stressed the need for “pragmatism,” in remarks echoed by the leading Western oil bosses in attendance at the evet, as reported by Bloomberg. These companies have highlighted their commitment to decarbonisation and emphasised their investments into renewable energy, but shave topped short of promising to reduce their output of hydrocarbons, “because of investor concerns,” Bloomberg reported.

“As president of COP29, of course, we will be a strong advocate for green transition and we are doing it,” Aliyev said. “But at the same time, we must be realistic.”

The Azerbaijani leader’s made some telling criticisms of the US as well, attacking the US media for labelling Azerbaijan a “petrostate,” a term he claimed that is better applied to the US status as the world’s largest oil and gas producer.

Aliyev also took a swing at environmental and human right activists who have been barred from the event. For example, famous Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was denied permission to cross the border and is currently in next-door Tbilisi, where she has organised protests slamming the EU for its “sell-out” and “greenwashing” of COP29.

“I have bad news for them,” Aliyev said. “We have 72,000 registered participants from 196 countries. Among them 80 presidents, vice presidents and prime ministers. So the world gathered in Baku, and we say to the world: Welcome to Azerbaijan.”