BAKU Flames soar into the air from a sandstone outcrop on a hillside on the Absheron peninsula near Baku , the capital of Azerbaijan , as it prepares to host the COP29 climate conference next week. The "burning mountain" — Yanardag in Azerbaijani — is fed by underground gas rising to the surface and igniting upon contact with oxygen. The abundance of naturally occurring fires from the energy-rich nation's huge gas deposits has earned it the nickname "The Land of Fire". Azerbaijan's vast oil and