Smoke and mirrors: Western anti-Azerbaijani smear hides real climate crisis Disrupting COP29

As the COP29 conference approaches in Baku, scheduled from November 11 to 22, a slanderous campaign against our country is gaining momentum. This campaign aims to disrupt this global event by preventing key representatives from the collective West from attending. One of the primary arguments being presented is Azerbaijan's status as an oil and gas producer — suggesting that a country involved in hydrocarbon production cannot lead the Conference on Climate Change. This reasoning is pure hypocrisy, given that Azerbaijan, despite being a hydrocarbon producer, contributes a minuscule percentage to the total greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere.

At the same time, the EU and the USA, which appear to be the most "concerned" about hydrocarbon extraction in Azerbaijan, are responsible for about 20% of global atmospheric pollution. If the European countries and organizations criticizing us are genuinely worried about hydrocarbon-related emissions, why has the EU entered into an agreement with us to boost gas supplies? What purpose do Europeans have for using this gas? Additionally, it is worth noting that gas is not the most environmentally harmful energy source. Without natural gas, European countries would be compelled to burn coal, which is far more toxic than blue fuel.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan is actively implementing a green transition policy. As Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pointed out in his recent address to the participants of the preliminary UN Climate Change Conference (Pre-COP29), "Azerbaijan also invests revenues from oil and gas productions in green energy. This clearly demonstrates that being rich in fossil fuels does not prevent us from our strides towards promoting a green agenda. As a country that accounts for only 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Azerbaijan sets an example of how even smaller emitters can make significant contributions to combat climate change."

As if acknowledging that the environmental criticisms are baseless, our country's adversaries have introduced an additional set of claims, including absurd allegations of "ethnic cleansing" and the detention of individuals accused of war crimes and terrorism. Recently, a discussion was held in the European Parliament on "The Political Situation and Human Rights Issues in Azerbaijan." The remarks made by the MEPs exemplified the theatre of the absurd. For example, French MEP Xavier Bellamy "condemned Azerbaijan's attack on Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia" and suggested immediate sanctions against Azerbaijani officials. 

Additionally, Nathalie Loiseau, the chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defense of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, echoed the same tired phrases, calling for a boycott of the COP29 conference in Baku. A resolution regarding this issue is expected from the European Parliament today, October 24.

In other words, while the planet is burning and sinking due to global warming, European lawmakers are focused on Armenian war criminals. We are certainly open to the idea that some Western politicians often lack logic and common sense. However, we can't help but entertain a "heretical" thought: perhaps the efforts by certain forces in the West to disrupt the event are driven not by foolishness, emotions, or even geopolitics, but by simple economics, or rather, a desire to cut costs? Could it be that by not attending the conference, representatives from some countries are trying to avoid financial commitments related to the climate agenda outlined in the Paris Agreement, particularly regarding assistance to developing nations? It’s important to note that this aid is not merely a favour; it is a repayment of historical debt. 

For centuries, developed countries have amassed power and wealth by emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases. And, as previously mentioned, these countries are still among the largest emitters today. Interestingly, Africa, the continent that suffers the most from climate change, contributes only about four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, small island nations account for just one per cent of emissions. Yet, these countries face the dire threat of being submerged due to rising sea levels.

Intensive negotiations are currently underway to escalate climate financing from the existing $100 billion to $500 billion, and even as high as $1 trillion annually. Decisions regarding this increase are anticipated to be made in November in Baku. It is possible that some individuals are genuinely alarmed by this figure and have concluded that the most effective strategy to evade financial obligations is to forgo attendance at the event.

We hope this notion remains nothing more than a speculative conjecture, as the repercussions of non-attendance would significantly outweigh any potential advantages that the architects of this defamatory campaign against Azerbaijan hope to derive from their unfounded accusations. The Global South will come to recognize that the collective West seeks to thrive at its expense, leading to a breakdown in communication and potentially plunging the world into a state of ecological chaos.

Thus, the most constructive action the West could take is to resist the allure of the demagoguery and populism propagated by the Armenian lobby and instead demonstrate its accountability for the future of humanity through meaningful participation and engagement at COP29 in Baku.