'Fossil fuels are a highway to hell, not a present of God' - civil society and faith leaders react to COP29 President

At the opening of the high-level segment of COP29 today, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, the host of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, declared that fossil fuels are a “gift of God”. Azerbaijan has 7 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and was one of the first places in the world to begin commercial oil production.

The speech had an impact in civil society, especially the faith community.

Rev. Fletcher Harper, of GreenFaith, said: "More fossil fuels today are literally the highway to hell for billions of people and the planet, certainly not a gift from God. Renewables for all would be today's sacred gift.”

Rev. James Bhagwan, General Secretary for the Pacific Conference of Churches, said: “Unfortunately, while natural resources are seen as a "gift of the gods" by some, where we are today in terms of the triple planetary crisis and the climate emergency is because of the abuse of these gifts. God expects us to be good stewards and care for his creation. We are in this climate emergency because we have turned gifts into commodities and our planet into a marketplace. I am reminded of Jesus' saying that you cannot serve both God and money.”

Alex Rafalowicz, Executive-Director of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, said: “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. Scientific and economic evidence has proven that the market does not need more oil, gas, and coal. And neither do people. A COP president who advocates this is betraying the nations that are present here in these negotiations for decades fighting for the future of the planet, and the communities that are at home fighting for their lives. This comment coming from the negotiating president, along with how they gaveled a flawed loophole ridden carbon market text shows the limitations of this process. It's clear we need a complementary model, one that puts real leaders at the negotiating table and that does not allow setbacks and blocks like this. A Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is a global tool that will help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and allow us to truly move forward to protect what we love: our nature and our people, the real gifts of God.”

cover photo: By Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty