Azerbaijan has appointed its ecology and natural resources minister to serve as president of the United Nations COP29 climate talks to be held in Baku in November. The appointment of Mukhtar Babayev was announced on January 4 by the COP28 United Arab Emirates presidency on X, formerly Twitter. Before taking office in 2018, Babayev spent 24 years at Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas company Socar. The selection of Babayev continues a contentious trend of oil and gas industry leaders helming UN climate talks. The chief of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company presided over last year's summit in Dubai.
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