I wrote about Azerbaijan a few weeks ago, in a piece reflecting on the war-driven challenges for Europe when trying to break from Russian oil via this country and Turkey. So, colour me very unsurprised by this latest news about COP29's hosts - but also tired.
Aren't you tired? I think we're all very tired of this right-in-plain-view environmental catastrophe.
https://phys.org/news/2024-06-cop29-climate-hosts-theyll-fossil.html
This was the piece, if anyone wants to read more. Essentially, Azerbaijan is leveraging its position as a vital workaround oil and gas source for Europe amid wartime bans. To pull off the trick, it's using Russian imports internally, and maximizing local exports to the West, in part by growing its own fossil fuels to meet demand while soliciting investment in future green tech. Its leaders will ride this wartime peak of political value to both sides for all they can get.
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/whats-oil-got-to-do-with-it