4 September 2024
A Tongan activist has lashed out at Azerbaijan’s climate record ahead of the COP29 UN climate summit in Baku.
Joseph Zane Sikulu, an activist from the Pacific Basin Climate Movement made the comments in an open letter to the President of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev, a former oil executive at SOCAR.
In the letter, Sikulu introduced himself as a native Tongan, noting that Babayev recently visited the islands of Tonga to participate in the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum.
‘You visited my home island last week, and your delegation witnessed heavy rains and an earthquake there. You saw how vulnerable our people are to disasters and how they need to be prepared’, Sikulu wrote.
He specifically called out Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for calling fossil fuels ‘a gift from the gods’ in a speech delivered earlier this year.
‘For us in the Pacific, such words aren’t just careless — they’re cruel. Our homes are at risk, and keeping our Pacific homes means no fossil fuel expansion’, Sikulu wrote.
He said Azerbaijan was not a climate leader.
‘You are talking about a 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. But your emissions in the 1990s were much higher than they are in the 21st century’, the letter alleged. ‘Your plans to increase fossil fuel exports are at odds with your climate goals’.
Sikulu also claimed that instead of holding the fossil fuel industry to account, Azerbaijan had created a ‘greenwashing’ fund to mask the ongoing expansion of fossil fuel production by the Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR.
‘The $1 billion fund will operate at market prices, not on preferential terms. This is a pathetic gesture compared to the vast sums needed for real action to combat climate change and restore it, and a blatant attempt to distract attention from your country’s destructive environmental activities’.
Sikulu said there was no more time for empty words, adding that the world needed Azerbaijan to lead it towards an ‘ambitious and fair new collective finance goal at COP29 to facilitate the global energy transition’.
‘Azerbaijan must step up with ambitious climate goals before November, especially if it seeks to be seen as a respected climate host. Real climate leadership is not optional; it’s a prerequisite for hosting climate summits — and so should be respecting and upholding human rights and civic space. Now is the time to make real commitments — and to deliver on them’, Sikulu wrote.
OC Media reached the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources for comment but did not receive any response.
During the previous year’s summit in Dubai, there was an unprecedented deadlock over who would be the next host country for COP29. According to UN regulations, the decision must be unanimous across all countries in the region assigned, in this case, Eastern Europe. The deadlock ended in December 2023 after Armenia dropped its own bid as well as its objections to Azerbaijan hosting in a good will gesture.
The summit also comes as a renewed crackdown on dissent is underway in Azerbaijan.
In November, Azerbaijani police raided the offices of independent news site AbzasMedia, and detained its director. In February, seven employees of AbzasMedia were detained and charged with smuggling foreign currency, while in March, police raided the offices of Toplum TV.
In July, Azerbaijan arrested Talysh researcher Igbal Abilov on charges of treason; similar charges were filed against Azerbaijani researcher and OC Media contributor Bahruz Samadov in late August.
