Britain hugs oil giant BP while preaching climate action

LONDON — The United Kingdom wants to use this week’s COP29 climate summit to sell itself as a global environmental leader.

But it’s got a two-letter problem: BP.

One of the U.K.’s largest companies, BP is a global force in fossil fuel drilling — and thick as thieves with COP29’s host, Azerbaijan.

BP is Azerbaijan’s biggest foreign investor. There’s even a joke popular in the region that the Azerbaijani government sees two U.K. power bases in Baku: the British Embassy and BP’s office.