An official with Azerbaijan's Presidency of next week's United Nations COP29 climate summit appears to offer to facilitate talks about new fossil fuel deals ahead of the conference, according to a video secretly recorded by an advocacy group. In an investigation first reported by the BBC, non-profit group Global Witness, which advocates against corruption, said it had set up a fake company to express interest in investing in Azerbaijan's national oil and gas company SOCAR, and in sponsoring the annual climate summit. In the video, recorded by Global Witness, Elnur Soltanov, CEO of the COP29 talks in Baku aimed at tackling global warming, offers to introduce a representative of the sham oil and gas firm, called EC Capital, to SOCAR.
GLOBAL WITNESS/REUTERS VIDEO