While that would also clean up Azerbaijan’s national greenhouse gas emissions, it only shifts a polluting problem to those who buy the gas exports.
Climate accounting typically excludes exported emissions, meaning the burden of pollution falls on countries that import and consume energy.
That’s why there needs to be greater oversight of the entire energy network, from producer to seller to buyer, much of which has a strong Western footprint, said Ms Kate Watters, director of Crude Accountability, a human rights and environmental watchdog for the Caspian Basin. .
She is deeply concerned by allegations of Azerbaijan’s poor human rights record, lack of transparency on key issues and entrenched corruption, as byproducts of a resource-rich, largely state-controlled economy.
“I think one of the most important things to understand is our responsibility as Western consumers of fossil fuels for what is happening in Azerbaijan right now,” she said, citing the extensive investments of companies such as BP, Total and ExxonMobil, the larger Europe’s dependence on its energy exports and international green financing flowing into renewable energy projects that effectively replace the national gas that powers Azerbaijan’s oil sector.
“If we look at the supply chain from end to end, are they just exporting their CO2 emissions to Europe? Does that really answer the questions about how we can achieve a greener future, a future with less CO2 emissions? No, it just pushes the pieces around,” she said.
According to the Corruption Perceptions Index 2023 published by Transparency International, Azerbaijan ranks 154th out of 180 countries with a score of 23 out of 100, making it one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
In October, members of the European Parliament strongly condemned the Azerbaijani regime’s “long-term domestic and extraterritorial repression of activists, journalists, opposition leaders and others” and also labeled its “continued human rights violations … incompatible with hosting the climate conference.” “.
They asked the European Commission to suspend the strategic energy partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s human rights record was examined for the fourth time by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review Working Group at the end of 2023, with 319 recommendations.
The government agreed to adopt 185, including measures on civil and political rights, anti-corruption and national human rights law.
President Ilham Aliyev has previously labeled allegations of corruption by his family and government as “insinuations or half-truths aimed at discrediting Azerbaijan’s image and undermining Azerbaijan’s position.”
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