© Reuters. A lady, draped in Azerbaijan’s nationwide flag, walks with a boy on a road in downtown Baku, Azerbaijan June 18, 2015. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Picture
2/3
(Corrects identify from Jason Bardwell to Joe Bardwell in second to final paragraph)
By Kate Abnett and Valerie Volcovici
DUBAI (Reuters) -Azerbaijan is poised to host subsequent yr’s COP29 local weather change summit after successful backing from different Japanese European nations on Saturday.
The choice, which resolves months of geopolitical impasse over the place the subsequent annual U.N. local weather summit will likely be held, rapidly drew focus to Azerbaijan’s oil manufacturing and its human rights report.
With the rotating presidency of the summit shifting to Japanese Europe subsequent yr, nations from the area agreed throughout the ongoing COP28 summit in Dubai to again Baku’s bid, the co-chairs of the group of nations mentioned in a letter the U.N. local weather change physique on Saturday, seen by Reuters.
“We’re very grateful to all countries, in particular to the Eastern European group and the [COP28 summit] host United Arab Emirates for their support,” Azerbaijan’s Ecology Minister Mukhtar Babayev mentioned in an tackle from the principle stage at COP28 on Saturday.
Zhala Bayramova, daughter of anti-corruption researcher Gubad Ibadoghlu, who was jailed in Azerbaijan after criticizing the nation’s oil and gasoline business, informed Reuters she was appalled on the choice.
“He is risking his life for this work,” Bayramova mentioned. “This work is quite meaningless when you have COP29 hosted in Azerbaijan.”
A spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s overseas ministry didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark about Ibadoghlu.
“Having COP29 gives legitimacy to the government,” Bayramova added.
The choice on who would host COP29 had been held up after Russia vowed to veto any bid by a European Union nation. The EU has imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
The bid by Azerbaijan, which isn’t an EU member, wants approval from the almost 200 international locations current on the COP28 talks. Delegates mentioned they anticipated the vote to be a formality.
To win the bid, Azerbaijan reached an settlement with longtime adversary Armenia that assured it could not face the specter of an Armenian veto.
However Baku’s relations with some Western international locations have deteriorated since September, when Azerbaijan retook full management of the breakaway area of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting an exodus of the territory’s ethnic Armenian inhabitants.
Holding the presidency of a U.N. local weather summit provides a rustic big affect on its agenda and outcomes.
The COP28 summit within the UAE has been the largest but, with greater than 90,000 delegates registered.
Whereas the choice on who will host the occasion is often made years upfront to permit international locations time to arrange, Aykhan Hajizada, a spokesperson at Azerbaijan’s ministry of overseas affairs, informed Reuters on Friday that Baku was properly geared up to deal with the occasion.
When Azerbaijan’s bid was first reported on Thursday, some raised issues about holding the worldwide local weather talks in one other oil producing nation. Azerbaijan is an oil and gasoline producer and a member of OPEC+.
Richard Black of the power assume tank Ember wrote on social media web site X: “The road from #COP28 will, it seems, lead to Baku, possibly the world’s first ‘oil capital’ a thousand years ago, where Marco Polo documented oil being traded, and where tourists can still top up their health by getting into a bath of crude.”
Hajizada mentioned he understood these issues, and famous Azerbaijan’s plans to diversify its power sources to incorporate extra wind and solar energy.
The European Fee final yr signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan to double imports of Azeri as a part of its technique to diversify away from Russia.
LEGITIMACY TO THE GOVERNMENT
Ibadoghlu, a professor on the London College of Economics, was arrested on costs of coping with counterfeit cash and extremism when visiting household in Azerbaijan in July.
He had served from 2013-2019 because the civil society consultant to the board of the Extractives Trade Transparency Initiative (EITI), a corporation that advocates for open and accountable administration of oil, gasoline and mineral assets.
The U.S. State Division and the Group for Safety and Cooperation in Europe earlier this yr condemned Ibadoghlu’s arrest and demanded his launch. The EU in September adopted a joint movement to demand an investigation into the arrest.
“We can’t let Azerbaijan use COP29 to distract from its abysmal record on freedom of speech and human rights,” mentioned Joe Bardwell, a spokesman for Publish What You Pay, the group that created the EITI.
“As a major oil producer, Azerbaijan will need to listen to its critics,” he mentioned.
For every day complete protection on COP28 in your inbox, join the Reuters Sustainable Swap (NYSE:) publication right here.
