UN climate summits are at risk of “undue corporate influence" and "fossil fuel industry capture”, two corruption watchdogs warned, as oil and gas producer Azerbaijan prepares to host the Cop29 in November.
Azerbaijan’s role as host marks the second consecutive year a country heavily reliant on fossil fuels will hold the world’s most prominent climate talks.
According to a report published by Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective, Azerbaijan's fossil fuel interests, entrenched levels of corruption and autocratic government put the UN-led climate process at risk.
The report emphasised that this risk isn’t unique to Azerbaijan, citing past and future Cop hosts with similarly strong fossil fuel ties.
"This report finds that in its current form, Cop – as the main global forum for setting the climate policy agenda – is at risk of being undermined by undue corporate influence and fossil fuel industry capture," the report said.
"Corruption and kleptocracy, too, threaten the integrity of climate conferences, including the upcoming Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan."
Azerbaijan under scrutiny
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic bordering Russia and Iran, has faced criticism over its Cop29 hosting rights.
Last week, the European Parliament condemned Azerbaijan’s human rights abuses, calling them “incompatible” with the summit.
In October, dozens of US lawmakers demanded the release of political prisoners ahead of the climate talks in Baku, where President Ilham Aliyev has ruled since 2003.
Azerbaijan’s plans to increase fossil fuel production also challenge the global transition away from oil and gas set out in Cop28 in Dubai.
Aliyev has publicly called the nation’s gas reserves a “gift of the gods”.
'Fossil fuel diplomacy'
Cop29 president Mukhtar Babayev, a former executive of Azerbaijan’s national oil company SOCAR, has come under scrutiny, with the report alleging that SOCAR officials may be using the conference to negotiate oil and gas deals.
The watchdogs noted that COP29 risks becoming “another forum for fossil fuel diplomacy and dealmaking”.
The United Arab Emirates, which hosted COP28 in November 2023, faced similar accusations, with the summit president also director of the Emirates national oil company ADNOC.
Azerbaijan, alongside the UAE and Brazil – the next Cop host – forms a “troika” promoting climate action, yet all three countries are moving ahead with new oil and gas ventures.
The report argued that “some members of this troika can use Cop events as diplomatic showcases to support their domestic oil industries, sign new fossil fuel deals and sanitise their records of human rights abuses and environmental harms”.
It also raised concerns that certain members of the Cop29 organising team have been implicated in "high-profile corruption scandals" and that the event may be used to promote companies linked to Azerbaijan’s ruling family.
