BAKU: Azerbaijan’s president, whose country is hosting the COP29 climate talks, on Tuesday repeated his insistence that oil, gas and other natural resources are a “gift of the God.”

In a robust defence of his country against what he termed “fake news” and a “well-coordinated campaign of slander and blackmail,” Ilham Aliyev said nations should not be judged by their natural resources and how they use them.

“Quote me that I said that this is a gift of the God, and I want to repeat it today here at this audience,” he told delegates at the climate conference in Baku.

“Oil, gas, wind, sun, gold, silver, copper, all... are natural resources and 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.”

“People need them.”

Azerbaijan has seven billion barrels of proven oil reserves and was one of the first places in the world to start commercial oil production.

Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Azerbaijan has produced 1.05 billion tonnes of oil and is set to increase its natural gas production by more than a third in the next decade.

Revenues from oil and gas production make up about 35 percent of the country’s GDP and nearly half of the state budget.

About 75 percent of Azerbaijan’s energy exports go to European markets.

In 2022, the European Commission signed a deal with Baku to double gas imports from the country, keen to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas — an agreement Aliyev defended in his speech.

“It was not our idea,” he said.

“They asked us to help, and we said okay, we will help Europe with energy security.”