The host country of this year’s UN climate summit, Azerbaijan, has been accused of hypocrisy in calling for a global truce to coincide with the conference taking place.
Azerbaijan holds the presidency of the Cop29 summit, which will take place in its capital, Baku, from 11 November for two weeks. Heads of government from around the world are expected and more than 180 countries are likely to be represented.
For the duration of the conference, and a week before and afterwards, Azerbaijan is calling on all countries that are engaged in conflict to put down arms. The presidency will also hold a special “peace day” on 15 November, and a Cop29 peace and climate initiative, intended to help the most vulnerable countries, in conjunction with the UK, Germany, Italy, Uganda and others.
The conflicts involving Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Gaza – both in regions neighbouring Azerbaijan – will cast a shadow over the conference. Russia is a leading producer of fossil fuels and emitter of greenhouse gases, while Azerbaijan is helping to supply gas to Europe in place of Russia’s gas. Forging diplomatic agreement on the climate is expected to be even more fraught than usual, when geopolitical tensions are already running high.
A leaked draft of the truce appeal, seen by the Guardian, shows Azerbaijan is positioning itself as a peacemaker. “[Cop29] is a unique chance to bridge divides and find paths towards lasting peace. Conflicts increase greenhouse gas emissions and ravage the environment, polluting soil, water and air. The devastation of ecosystems and pollution caused by conflicts worsen climate change and undermine our efforts to safeguard the planet,” reads the draft resolution, a short text of 180 words.
But activists have pointed to Azerbaijan’s record on human rights and its recently concluded war with Armenia. More than 100,000 people were displaced in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region after Azerbaijan launched an offensive last September.
A peace agreement was reached in late December but human rights campaigners say Azerbaijan still holds hundreds of political prisoners.
Several accused the Cop host country of hypocrisy. Paul Polman, a former chief of Unilever and now a climate activist and peace campaigner, said: “The idea of a ‘Cop truce’ is a deeply cynical PR stunt by Azerbaijan designed to distract the world’s attention away from its ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.
“If President [Ilhan] Aliyev [of Azerbaijan] truly wants to lead by example, instead on calling on others to act, he should commit to decarbonising Azerbaijan’s fossil fuel economy and release the more than 300 political prisoners he is detaining before Cop29 begins.”
Ibad Bayramov, whose father, Gubad Ibadoghlu, an academic at the London School of Economics, is among those being held, said: “The conflicts have enabled the Azerbaijani government to fly under the radar while systematically dismantling civil society by imprisoning opposition voices. As Cop29 approaches, international attention is increasingly focused on the regime’s oppressive tactics. The government’s recent truce call is nothing but a distraction aimed at diverting foreign governments’ attention from the harsh realities on the ground.”
He added: “My father’s trial has been deliberately frozen, while others face extended pre-trial detentions until after Cop29. Their aim is to get through Cop29 without holding any trials for political prisoners, hoping to avoid scrutiny.”
A spokesperson for the Conflict and Environment Observatory said of the truce call: “This does nothing to address the root causes of conflict. It’s like a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. Stepping down conflicts for a few weeks would obviously save lives, and that is a good thing, but it would be back to business as usual immediately after. Cop can result in meaningful action for peace and climate justice, but it must address the impact that militaries and conflicts are having on the climate crisis.”
Azerbaijan’s government rejected the criticism. Yalchin Rafiyev, the country’s chief negotiator for the Cop, said: “This initiative does not have any linkage with Armenia. What we are seeking is completely generic in nature. We are simply calling for a truce; it is not linked to political issues.”
He said the reaction from other countries to the idea of a Cop truce had been universally positive so far. But he acknowledged that it would be difficult in practice. “We cannot reassure everyone that it will be observed by all those in conflict,” he said.
Azerbaijan has also announced its programme for the Cop, which includes several initiatives on issues such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming and organic waste, and promoting hydrogen as a green fuel, but does not mention the central pledge made at last year’s Cop28 that the world would “transition away from fossil fuels”.
Rafiyev said fossil fuels would be on the agenda at Cop, along with the need to boost renewable energy. The other pressing issue at Cop29 will be providing adequate finance to developing countries, to help them cut their greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the impacts of climate breakdown. So far, there is little agreement on how the trillions required for such an effort will be raised.
