Azerbaijan, the host of this year’s global climate talks, has suggested that continued fossil fuel extraction is compatible with the Paris Agreement.

With four months to go until COP29 kicks off in Baku, the Azerbaijani presidency on Friday announced a flurry of “initiatives” — a set of 14 non-binding pledges and partnerships that countries are encouraged to sign up to at the summit.

At the same press conference, the summit’s chief executive Elnur Soltanov suggested that the Paris climate accord — under which countries agreed to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius and ideally to 1.5C — does not necessarily mean reducing fossil fuel production.