- 15 November, 2024
- Foreign Policy
On November 11, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP 29, kicked off in Azerbaijan. This major event is traditionally attended every year by high-ranking delegations from almost all UN member states.
It is noteworthy that days before the start of the event in Baku, investigative journalist Lucas Amin from Democracy For Sale revealed that Azerbaijan had paid nearly $5 million to Teneo, a lobbying consulting firm with close ties to British politicians and the oil industry, “to help the authoritarian regime improve its image within the framework of the event.”
Climate activists criticized Teneo for helping Azerbaijan “greenwash” its image.
Earlier, famous Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg also joined the campaign against the Baku regime, accusing Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev of ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and gross violations of human rights in the country. Thunberg called holding COP 29 in Azerbaijan “an example of political hypocrisy.”
Thus, despite Baku’s attempts to improve its image, the international press, influential organizations and people in the environmental and human rights community are largely boycotting the event, criticizing the decision to hold it in Baku.
The political representation of countries at the event is also noteworthy. Many world leaders and heads of a number of important political organizations did not turn up at the event hosted by Baku. Meanwhile, at the previous 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was held in the United Arab Emirates, state delegations were mainly led by the heads of the countries.
The Union of Informed Citizens compared the lists of world leaders and heads of political organizations who participated in COP29 and COP28.
Thus, COP28 was attended by delegations from 167 countries, of which about 60 were headed by the leaders of those countries, in the capacity of president, monarch, or prime minister. Almost the same number of delegations (164 delegations) are participating in COP29.
Like last year, this year the US delegation is not led by President Joe Biden. However, unlike at COP28, where the United States delegation was led by Vice President Kamala Harris, the delegation for COP29 was led by John Podesta, the Senior Adviser to the President on international climate policy.
Unlike the previous event, this year’s event was also skipped by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Instead, the supranational oganization was presented by EU Council President Charles Michel.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Monarch Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will not be discussing climate change in Baku either.
From the EU countries, the leaders of Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Malta, Poland and the Czech Republic will travel to Baku.
From the Middle Eastern countries, the event will also feature the presidents of Turkey and Israel, as last year. According to the published official list, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia will also attend the event.
Although Azerbaijani media claimed that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will also be present at the event, a delegation led by the latter did not travel to Baku. The King of Jordan will also not attend the event. The country will be represented by the Crown Prince instead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will also not attend COP29: the country’s delegation will be headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. By the way, last year Russia was represented at the level of the assistant to the president. The leaders of Georgia, Belarus, and Central Asian countries will also participate in the event.
India will also not participate in the event hosted by Baku. Among the world leaders, the President of the Republic of South Africa will also not be present at the event.
The leaders of major Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia will not be present at the event. It should be noted that the leaders of these countries did participate in COP28 held in the UAE.
Below is a list of leaders of the countries that participated in COP28 and COP29.
Nane Manasyan
Union of Informed Citizens NGO
