Azerbaijans guide torpedo his own climate talks, call for realignment

Azerbaijans guide torpedo his own climate talks, call for realignment

from the moment the results of the US elections were published, climate leaders knew that Donald Trump " COP29 talks in Baku. What they did not predict, however, was what Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev would do.

climate summit turns into a chaos

The talks should be among the most urgent meetings of the year that aim to slow down a global crisis that quickly gets out of control. Instead, however, they slipped into a spectacle of boycotts, political tirades and celebrations fossil fuels, in which Aliyev acted as a spectacular circus director.

Open letters and claims for fundamental changes

In the middle of the chaos, prominent climate leaders have a open letter demands. Originally, it was said that the annual talks, known as Conferences of the Parties (COPS), were "no longer functional", but this wording was quickly removed.

A spokeswoman for Sandrine Dixson-Declève, the co-president of the Club of Rome-who published the letter-announced CNN that the change was made because the "constructive criticism" was used by some parties to advance their own interests without naming a specific party.

However, the change does not change the fact that the conversations actually lose credibility.

the COP29 and the increasing integration of fossil fuels

The COP29 marks the third year in a row, in which the climate talks in a Petro state or an economy that depends heavily on oil and gas take place. The previous two took place in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, and all three were criticized for alleged human rights violations in the run -up to their events.

The recommendations of the open letter includes the introduction strict participation conditions in order to rule out countries that do not support the exit from fossil energy, and to prevent them from adopting cop presidia. The annual conferences welcomed fossil fuel interests more and more. According to an analysis of a coalition called Kick Big Polluters Out, over 1,700 lobbyists or actors in the fossil fuel industry were registered this year to take part in the conversations.

The reaction to the human rights situation in Azerbaijan

This is an enormous problem, said Alex Scott, a senior associate for climate diplomacy in Italy -based Think Tank Ecco. "[The President of Azerbaijans] does not sound like a protector of the Paris Agreement. There is still a week for this presidency to show that she does justice to this role," she said CNN from Baku. The Paris Agreement of 2015 combines most countries in the world in a common goal of limiting global warming.

"But we also have 1,700 lobbyists for fossil fuels who are here in the halls with us," she added, "and they are also not a protector of the goals of the Paris Agreement."

political attacks and international tensions

On Tuesday, Aliyev used his opening speech during the talks to reject the criticism of Azerbaijan's human rights record and defended the wealth of his country as a "gift of God". In a speech, he expressly made allegations against western countries, NGOs and global media reporting for "hypocrisy".

On Wednesday he used his platform again to start a tirade against France and the Netherlands. In terms of island states, which are faced with the existential threat from the increase in sea level, Aliyev accused both nations to exercise a "brutal oppression" of voices in their "colonies". He also blamed France for the recent deadly unrest on the half -autonomous island of Neukaledonia.

global climate work in the face of geopolitical conflicts

Aliyev's accusations were based on arguments on climate change, but Baku has long been disputed with both France and the Netherlands over their stands in the Azerbaijan Armenia conflict. France Minister of the Environment Agnès Pannier-Runacher should lead the French delegation, but said her visit to the statements.

The head of the foreign policy of the European Union, Joseph Borrell, commented on X on Aliyev's accusations and described it as "regrettable". "These unacceptable statements could undermine the decisive climate goals of the conference and the credibility of the COP29 presidency of Azerbaijan," he wrote.

withdrawal of delegations and effects on climate protection

The geopolitical chaos arises while global climate leaders are looking for ways to secure the progress against Trump, who has promised to bring the USA out of the Paris Agreement again. Already the perspective on Trump encourages similarly thinking leaders to rethink their own climate engagement. On Wednesday, the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs withdrew his delegation from COP29 without explaining. The Foreign Minister, Gerardo Werthein, later told the New York Times Land rethink his participation in the Paris Agreement, as there are “many elements” with which the government of President Javier Milei did not agree. Milei is a climate owm who described global warming as "socialist deception".

The talks take place in the wake of what is considered the hottest year in history, while successive hurricanes cost more than 300 people in the United States alone.

Some scientists question whether it is still possible to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. In order to have a chance, carbon pollution must be halved in this decade, and the world has to reach Nettonull by the middle of the century.