Azerbaijan's Minister for ecology and natural resources and formerly an executive at state oil company SOCAR Mukhtar Babayev (C) visits at the Norm cement plant in Baku, on February 23, 2023.
Azerbaijan named on January 5, 2024, Mukhtar Babayev minister to preside over the November 2024 COP29 meeting, in Baku, on January 6, 2024.
A former executive of Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas firm SOCAR has been picked to lead U.N. climate talks in Baku later this year, prompting critics to decry a "bad case of déjà vu."
It means that a minister with vast experience in oil and gas will lead negotiations at the U.N.'s biggest and most important annual climate conference for the second consecutive year.
Campaign group Global Witness said Babayev's appointment as the person to lead COP29 discussions was a "bad case of déjà vu."
Persons:
SOCAR Mukhtar Babayev, Mukhtar, decry, Mukhtar Babayev, Babayev, Jaber, COP28, Alice Harrison, Harrison
Organizations:
Norm, United, Emirates, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Global, United Nations, CNBC
Locations:
Baku, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan's, Sultan Al, Dubai, Abu Dhabi