Key Impact Points:
- Azerbaijan rejects Azerbaijan rejects human rights concerns, calling them irrelevant to the COP29 climate agenda. concerns, calling them irrelevant to the COP29 climate agenda.
- Human Rights Watch and U.S. lawmakers urge Western leaders to address Azerbaijan’s political prisoners during the summit.
- Azerbaijan aims for a “COP of peace,” while maintaining its stance on territorial disputes with Armenia.
Azerbaijan defends its stance
As Azerbaijan prepares to host COP29, top officials are dismissing growing criticism of the country’s human rights record. Hikmet Hajiyev, a key advisor to President Ilham Aliyev, called the criticisms a “coordinated smear campaign and dirty propaganda.”
“Overburdening the COP agenda with issues not having direct and immediate linkage to climate change is not helpful but detrimental,” Hajiyev stated.
Human Rights Watch recently published a report accusing Azerbaijan of cracking down on government critics, media, and civil groups. They called on Western leaders to highlight these issues at the climate summit. However, Azerbaijan insists that the focus should remain on the science of climate change.
Human rights pressure mounts
Despite Azerbaijan’s firm stance, international pressure is building. Nearly 60 U.S. lawmakers signed a letter urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to use the event to push for the release of political prisoners.
“Such vain attempts cannot derail us from achieving our noble mission to cope with the negative impacts of climate change,” President Aliyev responded during a pre-COP meeting in Baku.
Additionally, there are calls from European politicians to link the EU’s energy deals with Azerbaijan to its human rights record, particularly as the region looks to replace Russian fossil fuels.
Related Article: Key Takeaways from Climate Week NYC for COP16 and COP29
COP29 and peace ambitions
Azerbaijan has framed COP29 as a “COP of peace,” advocating for ceasefires across regions. Yet, this message is complicated by Azerbaijan’s military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, which displaced thousands of ethnic Armenians.
Hajiyev remains adamant that political criticism will not be viewed constructively at COP29. He emphasized that Azerbaijan’s focus is on reaching a new global climate finance agreement, stating:
“A historic agreement — a Baku Accord — must be reached.”
