Religious leaders grateful to President Aliyev for organising pre-COP29 global summit

Participants of the Global Summit of Religious Leaders, held as part of the upcoming COP29 climate conference, have sent a letter of appreciation to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, expressing their gratitude for the organisation of the Summit.

“The patronage of the Global Summit of Religious Leaders by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the special attention given by Your Excellency to our event is of great value,” the Summit participants said in their letter, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

“We regard the COP29 Baku Summit as a significant achievement for the people and state of Azerbaijan, and we commend Your Excellency's declaration of 2024 as the "Green World Solidarity Year" in Azerbaijan as a valuable global initiative aimed at fostering Human solidarity for the sake of the future of our planet. We appreciate Azerbaijan's commitment to environmental protection and its effective measures in this regard, evaluating it as a significant action towards restoring the divine order on Earth.

“Your Excellency! As Religious Leaders, we hope that the COP29 Summit held in Azerbaijan will serve as a beneficial and effective platform for calls for peace and global ceasefire. We express our support for the Azerbaijani state’s call for global ceasefire. The recent historical realities faced by Azerbaijan further prove that the world is still confronted with the clash of constructive and destructive forces. In the face of the military crimes and ecological terror, we see in Azerbaijan a state that addresses the severe consequences of crimes against nature and the environment, conducts restoration works based on the foundations of a green economy powered by alternative energy, and restores ecological balance in the region. Today, the Azerbaijani state, which has restored its territorial integrity, demonstrates to the world an exemplary model of overcoming the dire consequences of ecocide, urbicide, and culturcide.

Your Excellency, Mr. President! We cordially support Your Excellency's resolute stand against racial and religious intolerance and xenophobia in the pursuit of human fraternity. Thanks to your political will, Azerbaijan has become a traditional venue for numerous internationally significant events and prestigious summits focused on dialogue and cooperation among religions, cultures, and civilizations.

We are sure that under your wise leadership, the people and the state of Azerbaijan will achieve greater successes at the international level,” the participants added.

Notably, the Global Summit of Religious Leaders, themed “World Religions for a Green Planet,” was held in Baku on November 5-6 as part of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Initiated and supported by President Ilham Aliyev, the summit was co-organized by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Committee on Work with Religious Institutions, the Muslim Council of Elders, the Caucasus Muslims Office, and the United Nations Environment Programme.

The two-day summit brought together nearly 30 leaders from world and traditional religions, heads of prominent religious centres, including patriarchs, officials from the Vatican and Al-Azhar, and notable religious and public figures from various continents and faiths. Representatives from 55 countries and 30 international organizations are attending, including state, academic, religious figures, and media representatives.

On November 7, the summit participants will also visit the Azerbaijani liberated territories to familiarize themselves with the Azerbaijani realities, including the acts of ecocide, urbicide and culturcide committed by Armenia in these areas.

By Khagan Isayev