Theoretically, it is still too early to talk about the outcomes of the summit. But in practice, revolutionary shifts have already occurred in the discussions on climate change. This is where we must step away from the “breaking news” format and pay attention to the deeper processes.
This has been said countless times, but it’s worth repeating: conversations about global warming, climate change, and the risks these processes pose to everyone, regardless of where they live, have been ongoing for years—decades, even. The COP summit format, which Baku is hosting this year, is now in its 29th iteration. But it was President Ilham Aliyev’s speech that marked, if you will, a new era for COP—a shift from showmanship and PR to real action.
Indeed, such summits have been held before. But they often resembled semi-carnival events—full of “green” symbolism and an emphasis on creating a “green” image, but lacking clear political, financial, and economic decisions. The climate topic became little more than a fleeting PR opportunity, an attempt to make promises, attract the attention of those genuinely concerned with the issue—and then forget about it. At least until the next summit. This approach guaranteed flashy headlines and striking interviews but had absolutely no impact on the situation with climate and environmental pollution. Despite the abundance of words, COP summits became a demonstration of apathy toward the climate issue. As the saying goes, no matter how often you say “halva,” your mouth won’t get sweeter. Similarly, no amount of talk about the “green agenda” will bring it to life without concrete actions.
The climate agenda was finally discredited by the emergence of figures like Greta Thunberg. More precisely, by the fact that this overhyped, hysterical “activist” was granted the stage of the United Nations itself, and not one of the “powerful of this world” dared to stop this farce or remind everyone that the UN assembly hall is no place for school performances. Discussions on climate change should be led by climate scientists and politicians, not schoolgirls with evident psychological issues propped up by PR managers.
And, of course—how could it not be?—attempts began to use the “climate” topic for black PR against individual countries. Like many other high-profile projects, including the initiative for transparency in the extractive industries, the climate agenda began to shift toward familiar tactics: distribute funds to Western NGOs that would evaluate climate policies in countries outside the “golden billion.” The primary targets were hydrocarbon-exporting nations, who were hastily blamed for all mortal sins.
Now, in his “programmatic” speech at COP, President Ilham Aliyev has fundamentally changed the nature of the discussion.
Firstly, Baku has marked a turn from slogans to concrete actions. Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, the goals set today in the “green” agenda must be realistic and achievable. President Aliyev spoke about reality rather than tossing around beautiful terms. In Baku, it is well understood: this is the style of rhetoric and action of Azerbaijan’s president—minimum words, minimum slogans, maximum thoughtful and effective action. The Azerbaijani audience has seen this in the implementation of the country’s oil and gas strategy, during the “logistical revolution,” and, of course, in the liberation of Karabakh from Armenian occupation.
Addressing the participants of COP29, President Aliyev applied the same approach to Azerbaijan’s perspective on the climate agenda. He reminded everyone of reality: there will be no immediate abandonment of fossil hydrocarbons. “Green” energy sources cannot yet fully replace oil and gas. Therefore, it is pointless to set unattainable goals and replace realities with hollow slogans. Moreover, President Aliyev highlighted an uncomfortable truth for many: the climate agenda must take into account the real conditions and capabilities of both the “golden billion” and the “third world,” which often lack financial safety nets or technologies and suffer the most from climate change.
Another grim reality is the massive environmental damage caused by wars and conflicts. Azerbaijan knows this better than most: Armenia committed horrific ecocide on the occupied Azerbaijani lands. Despite this, not even a word of reproach was directed at Yerevan by the advocates of the “green agenda.”
Time to address climate and environmental issues is running out—if it hasn’t already. That is why Azerbaijan advocates for concrete actions. While not among the world’s leading polluters, Azerbaijan is ready to allocate specific funding for environmental programs. This is in addition to its own national green agenda, which includes solar and wind power plants, decarbonization, improved environmental standards, and more. Yes, this might seem like hard, unglamorous work to some. But without this hard work, no success will ever be achieved in any area. This is exactly what President Ilham Aliyev reminded everyone of.
