COP29

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Flags at the entrance to COP29’s Green Zone showing sponsorships by the renewable arm of Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company and a conglomerate owned by the family of the country’s first lady and vice president. Photo: Victor Swezey.

Fossil fuel deals raise alarms at Azerbaijan’s COP29 summit

•7 min read

Since being chosen to host the UN’s annual climate summit last year, the oil-rich country has provoked concern among observers and activists over potential conflicts of interest. As details emerge of Azerbaijan’s attempts to use COP29 to promote its oil and gas industries, some worry the legitimacy of the conference could be at risk. On the walk into the sprawling tent complex that hosts COP29, the UN flag whips in the wind next to another featuring the logo of SOCAR — the state-run oil com

Azerbaijan

French and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issue tit for tat summons of ambassadors

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s opening speech at the COP29 climate change conference criticising European neo-colonialism has led to a micro diplomatic scuffle between France and Azerbaijan. On Tuesday, the French Foreign Ministry issued a summons to Leyla Abdullayeva, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to France, over comments that President Ilham Aliyev made during a speech at COP29 the previous week. The French Foreign Ministry called the comments ‘unacceptable’ and said that ‘Azerbaijan’

Congressman Frank Pallone. Image via social media.

Armenia

US Congressperson Pallone claims Aliyev organised ‘violent protest’ to block his COP29 participation

by Aytan Farhadova

•3 min read

On 19 November, US Congressperson Frank Pallone wrote on X that he had been effectively forced out of Azerbaijan by government-affiliated provocateurs acting to prevent his participation in the COP29 climate change conference in Baku. In his post, Pallone wrote that ‘Despite (Azerbaijani President Ilham) Aliyev organising a violent protest to prevent me, Senator (Ed) Markey and others from participating to COP29, I’ll continue to fight for Armenian’s territorial sovereignty, the release of Ar

Vafa Naghi. Photo courtesy of Vafa Naghi.

Armenia–Azerbaijan Conflict

Azerbaijan’s Vafa Naghi targeted by pro-government media for support of anti COP protest

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

Prominent Azerbaijani activist Vafa Naghi has come under attack from pro-government media and others in Azerbaijan for taking part in a demonstration in Tbilisi against Azerbaijan’s hosting of the COP29 summit. As the UN’s annual climate conference kicked off on 11 November in Baku, Naghi attended a demonstration along with Georgian and Armenian activists in Tbilisi organised by the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Thurnberg boycotted the conference citing the human rights situati

Azerbaijan

Opinion | Jack of all trades, master of none: Azerbaijan seeks renewables to sustain the status quo

by Zhanaiym Kozybay

•4 min read

Opinion | Jack of all trades, master of none: Azerbaijan seeks renewables to sustain the status quo0:00/6:451× Increasing investments in renewables may seem like a positive change, battling the climate crisis and diversifying Azerbaijan’s oil-dependent economy. Yet, without a decrease in fossil fuel investments and renewables mostly exported, there may not be a change after all. Azerbaijan, an authoritarian petro-state, is hosting COP29, the global conference to grapple with the climate c

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani journalists denied accreditation, prevented from interviewing Aliyevs at COP29

by Aytan Farhadova

•4 min read

The Azerbaijani independent media outlet Meydan TV has said their journalists were denied accreditation to cover the COP29 climate summit, while an RFE/RL journalist was reportedly attacked for trying to get an interview with President Ilham Aliyev’s daughter. The UN climate change conference kicked off in Baku on Monday, and the country was immediately flooded with reporters from around the world. Ayan Najaf, a member of the Coordination Council of the COP29 Operations Company, said tha

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan and Georgia discuss establishing a green energy pipeline to Europe at COP29

by Victor Swezey

•2 min read

Energy officials from Azerbaijan and Georgia have held talks with their Hungarian and Romanian counterparts regarding a green energy pipeline connecting the South Caucasus and the EU. However, the project faces delays due to a lack of certainty over funding. Meeting on the sidelines of the COP29 summit in Baku, ministers from the four countries discussed their intention to lay hundreds of kilometres of fibre optic cable under the Black Sea for a project they say will promote both green transit

Editor‘s Picks

Azerbaijan

Georgia rejects asylum request from family of detained Azerbaijani activist

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

1adat

Russian authorities charge Yangulbaev’s detained mother with assaulting prison guard

by Elizaveta Chukharova

•3 min read

Guram Macharashvili addressing the parliament on 12 December. Image: Parliament of Georgia

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Georgian Dream satellite party People’s Power will exit majority to create ‘healthy opposition’

by Shota Kincha

•3 min read

COP29

Fossil fuel deals raise alarms at Azerbaijan’s COP29 summit

French and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issue tit for tat summons of ambassadors

US Congressperson Pallone claims Aliyev organised ‘violent protest’ to block his COP29 participation

Azerbaijan’s Vafa Naghi targeted by pro-government media for support of anti COP protest

Opinion | Jack of all trades, master of none: Azerbaijan seeks renewables to sustain the status quo

Azerbaijani journalists denied accreditation, prevented from interviewing Aliyevs at COP29

Azerbaijan and Georgia discuss establishing a green energy pipeline to Europe at COP29

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