Darren Woods tells COP that demand will keep rising, and the world needs an energy transition that’s profitable for companies like his.

Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, today. — Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, today.

Bloomberg News

For the second year running, the chief executive officer of the largest US oil company made an appearance at the COP climate talks.

And Darren Woods, seen as a climate criminal by many of the campaigners here in Baku, Azerbaijan, wasn’t skulking around: He did a full media round, including a 40-minute conversation with Bloomberg Green’s Akshat Rathi.

Woods, CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., took the chance to distance himself from the nihilistic climate policies of US President-elect Donald Trump and outlined his vision for a comprehensive system of climate accounting. But on one point he was quite clear: for the time being, at least, fossil-fuel demand would continue to rise.

“The world needs more fossil fuels,” he said, touting their contribution to increasing global living standards.

While that may be a statement of the current economic reality, our Big Take story today makes clear it will leave the world further than ever from meeting goals of the Paris Agreement and hasten environmental calamity.

World Leaders Day At The COP29 Global Climate Talks — Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev tells the COP29 conference that his country’s oil and gas reserves are “a gift from God.”Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Woods’ strategy, in contrast to some of his predecessors as CEO, is to be a reasonable actor in the climate debate and participate in low-carbon technologies when the business case (and tax breaks) are right.

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But he won’t fall into the same trap as some of his European counterparts: set overly ambitious targets for decarbonization that cut into profitability.

To some, that’s just taking the world as it is; to others, it’s unforgivable. Most importantly for Woods, it’s what his investors want.

He’s certainly not the only fossil-fuel advocate in Baku. Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev used his opening address to the global leaders’ summit to repeat his line that the country’s endowment of oil and gas is “a gift from God.”

Last year’s COP deal in Dubai promised the world would transition away from fossil fuels, and many countries — including the UK and Brazil — are putting forward more aggressive decarbonization plans.

But delegates would do well to hear what Woods has to say.

–Will Kennedy, Bloomberg News