Azerbaijan called for toning down the rhetoric ahead of global climate talks in its capital, amid political discord over fossil fuels and deep divisions over who pays for the transition to clean energy and with accusations of human rights abuses threatening to overshadow the international conference.
In a 14-point agenda released Tuesday, the oil and gas country outlined its priorities when hosting the United Nations talks known as COP29 in November. In addition to its proposed “truce.” Azerbaijan is encouraging countries to sign up to a pledge to expand energy storage and outlined ideas for a new climate fund that would be financed by fossil fel producers. Azerbaijan first announced the initiatives earlier this summer, saying further information would be sent “in due course.”
Mukhtar Babayev, the Azerbaijan official who’s serving as president of this year’s talks, said Tuesday that the country is “determined to lead by example.”
Azerbaijan has pitched COP29 as a so-called summit of peace, where it can pose green solutions to societal conflicts exacerbated by climate change. But the country has faced scrutiny for its poor human rights record and for jailing journalists and political opponents after it launched an offensive last year to take control of the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
