Oil and fuel is a ‘present from God’, Azerbaijan tells Keir Starmer and the Taliban as thinly attended COP29 local weather summit descends into farce… whereas PM commits to 81% reduce in emissions

The COP29 summit was at risk of descending into shambles today as the host hailed oil and gas as a ‘gift from God’. 

In his opening address, Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev insisted countries should not be embarrassed about selling fossil fuels. 

The extraordinary comments came as Keir Starmer used the gathering to commit the UK to a massive cut in carbon emissions.

The PM confirmed the eye-watering target of slashing 81 per cent off emissions by 2035, compared to 1990 levels.

He used a press conference at the Baku summit – snubbed by many world leaders but attended by the Taliban – to deny he will need to tell Brits ‘how to live’ in order to meet the ambitious goal.  

In his opening address, Mr Aliyev hit out at ‘unfortunately double standards, a habit to lecture other countries and political hypocrisy’ from the West.

Arguing that natural resources were a ‘gift from God’ just like other natural resources, he said: ‘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.’ 

Sir Keir is one of the only premiers from the wealthiest nations in Azerbaijan for the annual gathering, although the Taliban has sent a representative.

Outgoing US president Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and India‘s Narendra Modi are not in Baku. 

Senior figures from the EU and China are also absent from what is feared will be yet another talking shop that achieves little or nothing in the way of concrete action.

French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz, and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are all staying at home. The only other G7 leader taking part in the summit is Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.

One surprise attendee is the Taliban, which has found time to join the event. 

Matiul Haq Khalis, the head of Afghanistan’s Environmental Protection Agency, spoke to the media about the impact of climate change on the country. 

Downing Street said Sir Keir had no plans to meet the delegation. 

Countries will also be grappling with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, in what analysts say is a trend of climate scepticism in elections this year.

The next President of the US, the world’s second biggest polluter, is expected to boost fossil fuels, roll back green incentives domestically and take America out – again – of the global Paris Agreement on tackling climate change, which commits countries to pursue efforts to curb warming to 1.5C.

At his press conference, Sir Keir stressed he wanted to ‘tread lightly on people’s lives’ while pursuing the emissions target. 

The government’s Climate Change Committee has suggested that about 10 per cent of the saving in its plan to cut emissions by 2035 comes from changes that reduce demand for carbon-intensive activity, particularly ‘an accelerated shift in diets away from meat and dairy products, reductions in waste, slower growth in flights and reductions in travel demand’.

The PM said: ‘The target is my target and the plan is my plan, I’m not borrowing from somebody’s else’s plan.

‘The target is as I’ve set out today. I don’t think that as we tackle this really important issue the way to do it is to tell people how to run their lives and instruct them how to behave.’

Sir Keir said: ‘We set out the target, which is an important, ambitious target, what we are not going to do is start telling people how to live their lives.

‘We are not going to start dictating to people what they do. But we are going to be clear that that involves hitting the clean power 2030 mission that we have set out, one of the five big projects of the Government.

‘That is vital, so we will hit that, it is an ambitious target, it is a realisable target, but it is not going to be one in which we tell people how to live their lives.’

Asked if he was disappointed other world leaders had not attended Cop29, Sir Keir said the UK was at the summit to ‘show leadership’.

Tory shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said cutting emissions by 81 per cent will lead to ‘hardship’ for the British people.

During energy questions in the Commons, Ms Coutinho claimed that for the Government to reach that goal it would require a ‘shift away from meat and dairy’ and ‘less travel’.

In a round of interviews this morning, Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said no-one – including Mr Trump – could stop the transition to clean energy.

‘It would be wrong to say that the US election is not discussed but I think what is so striking about what is happening here is that whether you talk to business or other countries, people are getting on with this transition,’ he told Sky News.

This is an unstoppable transition and the reason is and the reason I’m here is that this is in our national self-interest as a country.’ 

Sir Keir said earlier that achieving Net Zero power by 2030 would ‘lower bills for people, for their energy it’ll give them independence, so that tyrants like (Vladimir) Putin can’t put his boot on our throat, causing all sorts of difficulties for our energy bills’.

He added: ‘I accept it’s a difficult target. It’s an achievable target. But it’s not about telling people how to live their lives. I’m not interested in that.

‘I am interested in making sure that their energy bills are stable, that we’ve got energy independence, and that we also, along the way, pick up the next generation of jobs.’

The choice of Azerbaijan to host the talks has come under criticism over its human rights record, with failings including the persecution of political opponents and detainment of activists.