COP29 – Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Nicole Bibbins Sedaca

In early November, the world's leaders, environmental activists, and researchers will gather in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29), the United Nations' annual forum on climate change. The venue was chosen not because of the government's unwavering dedication to reversing climate change. Quite the contrary.

This year marks the third year in a row that the decision-making body of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change is being presided over by an authoritarian petrostatewith an abysmal human rights record. The hosting of COP 29 in Azerbaijan is a global public relations (PR) effort to normalize the Azerbaijani government on the global stage, as it commits some of the world's worst human rights abuses and seeks to cover up its track record. We cannot allow this to happen.

Azerbaijan is among a small number of countries to host a COP over the last 30 years that are rated as Not Free in Freedom House's Freedom in the Worldreport, the others being Qatarin 2012, Egyptin 2022, and the UAEin 2023. And it secured this important honor through consistent help from the Kremlin, which blocked other candidates as retaliation for sanctions placed on Moscow following the unprovoked, full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine.

If the international community allows authoritarian regimes to use global conferences as a means of greenwashing their records, we undermine these important efforts to address pressing global issues and we diminish the credibility of international cooperation at such multilateral forums. Before I outline how the international community can respond, let me review the human rights record of the Azerbaijani government.

Freedom House ranks over 200 countries and territories in our annual Freedom in the World report. Azerbaijan ranks among the least free countries in the world. On a scale of 100 points, Azerbaijan scores only 7. Within that 100-point ranking, we look specifically at how citizens experience political rights in the country. And Azerbaijan's ranking for political rights specifically is exactly zero. The country lacks a free media and the rule of law and prohibits freedom of assembly. The operation of opposition political parties and civil society organizations is tightly controlled by authorities. President Aliyev has maintained a grip on power for over two decades.

As many watching or listening will recall, just over a year ago, Azerbaijani armed forces attacked the previously self-governing territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, dissolving the territory's political, legal, and civic institutions and forcing almost the entire population of ethnic Armenians out of their homes. Freedom House's recent fact-finding mission documented multiple cases of gross human rights violations and breaches of international law by Azerbaijani officials. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that the actions by the regime meet the criteria for ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Since this illegal attack, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's regime has extended its reign of repression within and outside of Azerbaijan. And now, following this unprovoked attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, the regime is significantly increasing its crackdown on citizens at home to tighten its grip on power, while calling for a "COP29 truce" on the very aggression it has caused.

President Aliyev has consistently silenced and targeted those who seek to freely express dissenting views, including on climate change and environmental issues. And this has increased in advance of next month's conference. The Aliyev regime is seeking to squash any public dissent - of climate activists, journalists, researchers, democracy and human rights activists and many more. To name several examples:

• the regime has targeted Anar Mammadli, a prominent human rights activist and cofounder of the Climate of Justice Initiative, a civic group that seeks to promote climate justice in Azerbaijan.

• In August, Bahruz Samadov, an Azerbaijani researcher and advocate for peace with Armenians, was arrested on fabricated charges of treason while visiting Azerbaijan on a break from university.

• Alsothis summer, two other peace activists-Samad Shikhiand Javid Agha-were detained. Javid was allegedly detained in order to testify against Samadov.

• Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu, an economist and anticorruption advocate, remains under house arrest unable to leave the country, despite needing urgent medical treatment overseas.

And the Aliyev regime has not restricted its repression to the borders of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. It has taken these illegal actions far afield, targeting activists, journalists and others with intimidation, threats and violence to restrict their freedoms and silence their dissent. We must recognize that progress on our world's most pressing problems cannot be made while authoritarians silence the journalists and civil society that are calling for progress on this issue. Aliyev's regime is denying access to this conference to the very people who are crucial to its success: civil society actors. Make no mistake, the Azerbaijani government is simultaneously undermining environmental issues and restricting the freedoms of activists who seek to make progress on these important environmental concerns. In June of 2023, activists organized a rally against plans to build a second artificial lake in the village of Söyüdlüafter a previously constructed lake has allegedly been used for the dumping of toxic waste from a nearby gold mine. The government responded quickly and violently, repressing the media and using disproportionate force against the citizens of this town and local civic activists.

If we believe progress can be made on climate change without the freedom of civil society members who are advocating for change, we are mistaken.

Time is of the essence, and the window has not yet closed. Those who are attending have an important role to play in raising awareness of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan and push for change.

The conference in Baku is going ahead, but it is not too late to use the event to highlight the ongoing abuses perpetrated by the Aliyev regime and advocate for a greater respect for human rights. Here are three tangible steps that can be taken:

• The governments who will be attending COP29 must insist that Azerbaijani authorities guarantee the safety of all domestic and international civil society actors in or traveling to the country to ensure that these important climate negotiations are inclusive and meaningful.

• Everyone participating - government, business, civil society, journalists alike - should use this opportunity to raise their voices to express concerns about Azerbaijan's crackdown on civil society, especially highlighting the plight of environmental activists. This will be essential to ensure that the government cannot use the Conference to greenwash its record.

• All in attendance and those watching from afar must advocate for the immediate and unconditional release of the nearly 300 political prisonersheld in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is opening itself up to bask in the world's attention. Advocates of freedom and democracy should seize on this opportunity. 

We cannot simply shrug our shoulders assuming there is nothing we can do. We owe it to the people of Azerbaijan - including those languishing in prison for exercising their freedoms - and to the many around the world who desperately hope for progress on climate change.