COP29 host Azerbaijan suspended the launch of a new fund with voluntary contributions from fossil fuel producers.

Javid Gara is a 32-year-old, self-employed electrician who moved from Baku to England’s Manchester three years ago. He also runs Azerbaijan’s only independent climate group, campaigning to clean up the environment and cut emissions.

Azerbaijan has gotten bad press for big events in the past. But the problem could be magnified with COP29 this month, given its planetary stakes and alleged obfuscation around its precursors in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

An official with Azerbaijan's Presidency of next week's United Nations COP29 climate summit appeared to offer to facilitate talks about new fossil fuel deals ahead of the conference, according to a video secretly recorded by an advocacy group.

Water levels in the Caspian Sea are set to fall dramatically as the climate gets hotter, posing a major threat to economic activity and ecosystems in the region

AZERBAIJAN - The COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan is hoping to come up with a new agreement for climate-related transfers from rich countries to poor countries. It is dubbed the finance COP because this is its primary objective.