The city of Baku is set to host the inaugural Baku Climate Action Week from 30 September to 4 October to engage and mobilise society toward addressing climate change, as it prepares to host the UN Climate Change Conference – COP29 – in November.
Working in partnership with London Climate Action Week, Baku’s event is set to feature a range of high-level international conferences alongside multistakeholder local and community events.
This year’s key themes are energy transition, cities/built environment, water security, food and agriculture, SMEs and green skills. The first half of the week will showcase public institutions, academia and the private sector, with the second half featuring arts and culture.
COP29 president-designate, Mukhtar Babayev, stated: “As we prepare to welcome the world to COP29 in Baku this November, events such as Baku Climate Action Week bring together political and business leaders, local communities and young people, giving an important educational and inspirational platform as we continue to address Azerbaijan’s current challenges caused by climate change and explore the opportunities presented by the green transition.
“Reflecting Azerbaijan’s vision, Baku continues to explore and embrace renewable technology, and bringing people together to raise awareness of the benefits of this green transition on both a local and international level is a positive initiative. We hope that Baku Climate Action Week will be a major stepping stone towards COP29, showing our commitment to mobilising climate action across the whole of society.”
‘Stop hosting COP in authoritarian countries’
Elsewhere, in an open letter to the secretariat for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a global coalition of non-governmental organisations – including the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture – have called on the institution to stop hosting the annual COP climate summit in authoritarian countries such as Egypt (COP27), United Arab Emirates (COP28) and Azerbaijan (the upcoming COP29).
Since being awarded hosting privileges, Azerbaijan has been accused of using the government’s state security apparatus to “suppress and close civic space in the country”, according to the letter. It goes on to say that the human rights record in Azerbaijan “raises significant concerns amongst both local and international civil society”.
“The dynamics of intensified repressive measures, combined with physical and economic threats, make it nearly impossible for media and CSOs to conduct their work independently and without fear of persecution.
“Yet, upon gaining the COP Presidency Status, the government of Azerbaijan has launched an unprecedented attack on independent media and civil society activists in the country. As of July 2024, the list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan amounts to at least 306 individuals.”
The letter stated that previous hosts have also not respected human rights in the past two years. In December 2023, while hosting the COP28 in Dubai, Emirati authorities charged at least 84 defendants in retaliation for forming an independent advocacy group in 2010, with the trial marred by serious due process and fair trial violations. Likewise, in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, NGOs and UN Experts complained that climate activists and members of civil society “were subjected to intimidation, harassment and surveillance during the COP27”.
The letter concluded: “We call on the UNFCCC to make the host agreements for future COPs public and ensure they comply with international human rights law, including by protecting the rights to freedom of speech and assembly.”
