The country’s authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev personally oversees the largest cash cow: the State Oil Fund. That may be why he considers Azerbaijan’s vast reserve of fossil fuels “ a gift from God ” even as it fails to uplift his people.

Leaders of the world's biggest economies must send a clear signal on the need to tackle global warming, COP29 climate summit host Azerbaijan said on Monday. The plea came as Group of 20 (G20) leaders

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.

As we broadcast this week from the U.N. climate talks in Baku, human rights groups have warned of Azerbaijan’s escalating crackdown on civil society groups, government critics and the press. Since the announcement last year of Azerbaijan as the host of COP29,