Fake accounts launch disinformation campaign against COP29 in Azerbaijan

A large-scale campaign targeting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Azerbaijan is being conducted through fake accounts on the social media platform X.

According to a joint statement from the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Commission on Countering Foreign Interference and Hybrid Threats and the Media Development Agency, misleading content is being disseminated through bots and fake profiles under the hashtag #cop29, aimed at creating a false narrative of widespread dissatisfaction with the conference's location in Azerbaijan, Caliber.Az reports.

“We urge citizens and the international community to avoid being swayed by this disinformation and to rely on information from official sources. We also call on the social media platform X to investigate this campaign, which is rooted in falsehoods,” the statement says.

The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) is set to take place in Azerbaijan from November 11 to 22.  Over the course of two weeks, Baku is expected to transform into a global hub for climate discussions, accommodating approximately 70,000 to 80,000 international attendees.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, aiming to prevent harmful human interference with the climate system.

The term COP, which stands for "Conference of the Parties," denotes the supreme decision-making body tasked with overseeing the implementation of the UNFCCC.

The Convention currently comprises 198 member states, and the COP convenes annually unless otherwise determined by the parties involved. The inaugural COP was held in Berlin in March 1995, with its secretariat located in Bonn.

By Vafa Guliyeva