There are plenty of climate issues to tackle at the upcoming COP29 this month, but the overwhelming spotlight has been on the controversial host country: Azerbaijan. This will be the second year running that the annual UN climate change conference is held in a petrostate and the third consecutive year in an authoritarian state with a questionable human rights record. Azerbaijan’s love affair with oil and gas and history of suppressing those who speak out against it has left people wondering: should a country like this host a COP?
A petrostate host
No country – petrostate or renewables haven – should be excluded from contributing to climate action. Having a petrostate host a climate COP can increase international pressure on the country to live up to its climate commitments. But Azerbaijan’s lack of decarbonisation progress is concerning. Considered to be a “gift from god” by its president, Ilham Aliyev, fossil fuels make up 90% of Azerbaijan’s exports. Despite claiming to be in an active green transition and setting targets to reduce emissions by 40% by 2050, the government is yet to provide a detailed fossil fuel phase-out plan, as agreed in a landmark pact at COP28. Gas has now replaced oil as the country’s leading export, and production is set to increase by a third in the next decade. Critics have argued that having Azerbaijan – a country where decarbonisation is not a priority – host a global climate summit is troubling.
An autocratic state host
Azerbaijan ranks as one of the least democratic countries globally, with severe limitations on freedoms of expression and assembly of civil society groups, journalists and dissidents. Civil society groups have accused Azerbaijan of hypocrisy after it labelled itself a peacemaker and called for a global truce during this year’s two-week climate conference. The accusation follows a year of campaigning for the release of Gubad Ibadoghlu, Azerbaijani energy markets expert at the London School of Economics and vocal critic of the country’s oil and gas policies. Before his 2023 arrest, Ibadoghlu was outspoken in his belief that Azerbaijan couldn’t replace Russia as an alternative oil and gas supplier to the EU due to limited capacity and geopolitical tensions. Azerbaijan’s government arrested him for religious extremism and counterfeiting money – claims that have been refuted by global advocacy groups and lawyers. There’s concern that Azerbaijan’s harsh crackdown on dissidents, particularly those that oppose current climate policies, will intensify after the conference.
Azerbaijan’s foreign policy chief dismissed the human rights abuse claims, stating that “overburdening the COP agenda with issues not having direct and immediate linkage to climate change is not helpful but detrimental.” But history shows us that, in many cases, effective climate action relies on respect for human rights. Decades of speaking out against governments and large corporates paved the way for the climate policies and regulations we have today. On the one hand, Azerbaijan is hosting a conference centred on climate justice and empowering developing nations, yet on the other, the country is suppressing core pillars of climate activism – freedom of expression and association, and peaceful assembly.
Paul Polman – former Unilever CEO and major sustainability advocate – sums up the controversy: “Rewarding such behaviour by allowing the country [Azerbaijan] to host COP29 sends the wrong message to the international community…how can you push others to higher ambition, while continuing to build your economy on fossil fuels? How can you convene the different players in a spirit of inclusion and compromise, while violently suppressing dissent?”
Global advocacy and civil society groups are pushing national governments, such as the US and the UK, to pressure Azerbaijan to release its political prisoners. After months of campaigning, the message seems to be getting through. In early October, US lawmakers urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to press President Aliyev on upholding human rights protections ahead of COP29. The EU Parliament took this one step further, condemning Azerbaijan’s human rights record and encouraging EU leaders to use the conference as an opportunity to address the issue. EU Parliament members even stated that Azerbaijan’s abuses were incompatible with hosting COP29.
How can a host country’s human rights transgressions be addressed at future COPs?
Civil society groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have been advocating for increased human rights protections for COP participants in the host country agreements (HCAs). They’ve also called for HCAs to be publicly available immediately after the climate COP host country is announced. This stems from the fact the COP29 HCA is still not public nearly a year on from the announcement of Azerbaijan as the host. Human Rights Watch did obtain a copy of Azerbaijan’s HCA and uncovered significant shortcomings and ambiguities on the protection of human rights for conference participants. It’s no surprise that the involvement of Azerbaijani civil society in this year’s COP is expected to be extremely limited, with state-supported groups filling their space instead. Undertaking the actions proposed by civil society groups would mean future COP participants – especially those from the host country – are able to speak freely during the conference without fear of persecution afterwards.
What happens at COP29 in terms of climate negotiations and how Azerbaijan will respond to human rights criticism remains to be seen. Despite the international scrutiny, the petrostate is not shying away from the global climate stage. In September 2024, Azerbaijan announced its bid to host another global environmental summit – the COP17 UN Biodiversity Conference in 2026. It seems the discourse around Azerbaijan’s role in global sustainability conversations isn’t over yet.
