Azerbaijan defends fossil fuels at COP29

The host of the UN climate summit in Azerbaijan on Tuesday defended fossil fuels and the right of countries to exploit them as dozens of world leaders arrived for the COP29 conference.

More than 75 leaders are expected, but the heads of many top polluting nations are skipping the crunch climate talks, where the impact of Donald Trump's election victory is being digested.

Just a handful of leaders from G20 nations -- which account for nearly 80 percent of the world's planet-heating emissions -- are expected over two days in Baku.

In the host's opening address, President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan had been subject to "slander and blackmail" for its use of fossil fuels and that no country should be judged for its natural resources.

"Quote me that I said that this is a gift of the God, and I want to repeat it today here at this audience," Aliyev told delegates. "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."

The remarks were slammed by environmental groups. "Countries are not to blame for their natural resources, but they are responsible for the threat they pose to humanity by extracting them from the ground and driving climate impacts," said Alex Rafalowicz, executive director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.

Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz are among G20 leaders missing the event, where uncertainty over future US climate action overshadows proceedings.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, one of the higher profile leaders attending, announced Britain would aim to cut its emissions 81 percent from 1990 levels by 2035