--- title: "Secret Video Shows Top Climate Change Conference Official Promising to Facilitate Fossil Fuel Deals" description: "A secret recording obtained by the BBC shows the organizer of this year's COP29 climate change conference trying to strike a fossil fuel deal." date: "2024-11-08" modified: "2024-11-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/secret-video-climate-change-official-promising-fossil-fuel-deals" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "climate change" - "oil and gas" - "the digest" - "united arab emirates" - "united nations" --- # Secret Video Shows Top Climate Change Conference Official Promising to Facilitate Fossil Fuel Deals ![A secret recording obtained by the BBC shows the organizer of this year's COP29 climate change conference trying to strike a fossil fuel deal.]() *\Image: BBC / Global Witness\* ## Oiled Up The United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP), a yearly climate change conference where world leaders convene to discuss just how screwed we *really* are, has [long been revealed to be a sham](). The grip the fossil fuel industry has had over the organizers and host countries became painfully apparent last year when conference leader and Emirati oil executive Sultan Al Jaber [claimed that there's "no science]()" behind phasing out fossil fuels to keep global temperatures from creeping above 1.5 degrees Celsius, a preposterous and self-serving claim that flies in the face of decades of scientific evidence. And this year's COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan is seemingly no different. A [secret recording obtained by the *BBC*]() shows Elnur Soltanov, the chief executive of the COP29 team — who also happens to be the Asian nation's deputy energy minister and senior executive at the national oil and gas company Socar — discussing "investment opportunities." "We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed," he can be heard saying in the video. ## Call the COPs Soltanov was trying to woo an undercover representative from the human rights watch campaign Global Witness, who told the oil exec he represented the interests of a fictitious Hong Kong-based oil and gas company. "I would be happy to create a contact between your team and their team \[Socar\] so that they can start discussions," Soltanov told the fake oil operative. None of this should come as much of a surprise. Azerbaijan's economy relies massively on oil, accounting for a [whopping 90 percent of its experts](). Naturally, the UN body reacted with outrage, telling the *BBC* that Soltanov's naked interest in furthering oil and gas investments was "completely unacceptable" and a "betrayal." Christiana Figueres, who oversaw the signing of the historic Paris Agreement in 2015, told the *BBC* that Soltanov's behavior was "contrary and egregious" to the purpose of the yearly conferences, and a "treason." Last year's COP28 conference turned into a counterproductive circus, as the [*BBC* revealed at the time](), with the United Arab Emirates using scheduled meetings for "private" oil and gas business talks. In other words, [claiming]() these summits are designed to "measure progress and negotiate multilateral responses to climate change" is in many ways misleading and disingenuous. The kind of investments Soltanov is encouraging, after all, directly contradict the [promise nations made]() at last year's climate change conference when they agreed to transition away from fossil fuels. In short, COP29 sounds like little more than a forum for oil and gas executives to strike new deals — and world leaders to make vacuous promises often without taking any meaningful action. **More on COP:** *[Scientists Warn That the Dubai Climate Conference Is Full of Crap]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()