The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the

UNFCCC The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. It is an international treaty among countries to combat "dangerous human interference with th ...

, more commonly known as COP29, was the 29th

United Nations Climate Change conference The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties – the conference of the par ...

. It was held at

Baku Olympic Stadium Baku Olympic Stadium () is a stadium, designed and constructed to meet the international standards for stadiums set by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Internat ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, from 11 to 22 November 2024. Mukhtar Babayev presided, while Samir Nuriyev headed the Organising Committee. The conference concluded with an agreement on plans for finance to mitigate the effects of climate change and help

developing nations A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreemen ...

transition to more

sustainable energy Energy system, Energy is sustainability, sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the e ...

sources. Rules and a UN registry were agreed to facilitate and record international trading of

carbon credit Carbon offsetting is a carbon trading mechanism that enables entities to compensate for offset greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce, avoid, or remove emissions elsewhere. When an entity invests in a carbon offsetting p ...

s. The choice of Azerbaijan as the location for the conference was controversial because it is a major oil and gas producer and authoritarian state with extensive corruption, with several "official partners" of COP29 being businesses directly owned by

President of Azerbaijan The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. The Constitution of Azerbaijan, Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of Executive (government), executive power, co ...

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

, or tied to the Aliyev family's businesses.

Background

signed the

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...

—an agreement within the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. It is an international treaty among countries to combat "dangerous human interference with th ...

(UNFCCC)—on 22 April 2016. It was ratified on 9 January 2017, and entered into force on 8 February 2017. In January 2024, Mukhtar Babayev, a longtime official of Azeri

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

oil company

SOCAR The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (), largely known by its abbreviation SOCAR, is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and o ...

and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, was appointed as president of the COP29. Azerbaijan reportedly paid

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based PR firm

Teneo Teneo is a public relations and advisory company. The company was founded in June 2011 by Declan Kelly, Paul Keary, and Doug Band, and as of 2025 has more than 1,600 employees located in 40 offices. In 2019, Teneo sold a majority stake to ...

US$4.7 million to manage public relations for the event.

Critique of choice of location

COP29 conference center Baku Azerbaijan 11-22 November 2024

COP29 in Azerbaijan In December 2023,

was announced as the host of the conference. Held on a rotating schedule, the annual COP summit was set to be hosted by an Eastern European nation. However,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

reported that, during the previous COP28 meeting in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, Eastern European countries had agreed to back Azerbaijan's bid for the 2024 edition. Critics argued that hosting COP29 in Azerbaijan was inappropriate due to the country's poor human rights record and an alleged

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

against the Armenian population in the

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

region. They also highlighted that Azerbaijan was a major fossil fuel producer, with an authoritarian government extensively linked to corruption, and saw the choice to assign hosting rights for the COP29 to the country as a way to

greenwash Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "Whitewash (censorship), whitewash"), also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization ...

its reputation. Additionally, concerns were raised about the government's repression of journalists and

environmental activists The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

before the conference, indicating a suppression of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

and

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Michael Rubin,

senior fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

at the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...

, wrote that COP29 risked legitimizing Azerbaijani President

's authoritarian government, comparing the occurrence to the political exploitation of the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's regime. Reporters and anti-corruption non-profits also criticized extensive corruption occurring in the country, with "official partners" of COP29 being businesses that were either owned directly by or tied to the Aliyev family.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

said the Host Country Agreement (HCA) between Azerbaijan and the

should include arrangements that guaranteed that "all human rights

ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...

protected and respected", and must be made public immediately, citing Azerbaijan's human rights violations. The rights group drew a comparison with the situation during COP28, which had been hosted by the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, stating that it had made multiple efforts to obtain the HCA signed in August 2023. Amnesty received a copy of COP28's HCA in June 2024, and revealed that it had "significant shortcomings and ambiguities" in rights protections offered to the participants in

. On 11 November 2024, climate activist

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

attended a rally in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, the capital of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, to protest Azerbaijan's hosting of the COP29. Thunberg and other activists criticized Azerbaijan's repressive government, and use of the summit to "greenwash" human rights abuses. She called it "absurd" to hold climate talks in an "authoritarian petrostate" amid rising emissions and a climate crisis. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev described the criticism as a "smear campaign" and said it " ould notderail us from achieving our noble mission to cope with the negative impacts of climate change."

Pre-COP29 negotiations

At the Climate Change Conference in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

in June 2024, despite positive outcomes on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) and adaptation indicators for COP29, limited progress was achieved on the effective implementation of Article 6 of the

, with unresolved issues surrounding

systems and emission avoidance. In the occasion,

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Climate Change Executive Secretary,

Simon Stiell Simon Emmanuel Kervin Stiell is a Grenadian politician, serving as the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change since August 2022. He indirectly succeeded Patricia Espinosa as the head of the UNFCCC, thoug ...

, stressed the need for further work to address those issues before COP29. In July 2024, Azerbaijan announced the institution of the Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF), a fund that aimed to seek US$1 billion in annual contributions from

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

-producing countries and companies, which would then be re-invested in

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

and support of climate projects in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

; half of the resources from the CFAF would reportedly be allocated to national plans for the fulfillment of the targets set by the Paris Agreement. 20% of the total revenues would be allocated to a Rapid Response Funding Facility (2R2F) for disaster support. On 10 and 11 October, Azerbaijan hosted the annual Pre-COP meeting to initiate discussions ahead of COP29. The conference, centered around the motto "Strengthening Ambitions and Ensuring Action", opened with COP29 President-designate Mukhtar Babayev, COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed. Guests discussed priorities such as the need for a new climate finance goal to replace the former $100 billion target, the full activation of the Loss and Damage Fund —originally established during the COP27 in

Sharm El Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh (, , literally "bay of the Sheikh"), alternatively rendered Sharm el-Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, or Sharm El-Sheikh, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip alo ...

—, and wider support of vulnerable communities. Discussions also included updated

Nationally Determined Contributions The nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are commitments that countries make to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of climate change mitigation. These commitments include the necessary policies and measures for achieving the glob ...

(NDCs) from countries and the finalization of guidelines for carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Leaders emphasized the need to cap global warming at 1.5

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

, as data from the

UN Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on t ...

had suggested that existing climate pledges may allow for an overall 2.9°C increase.

COP29 Organizing Committee

The Organising Committee for COP29 was established by an order of the

on 13 January 2024. The committee's composition was subsequently expanded on 19 January and 22 February of the same year. Chaired by Samir Nuriyev, Head of the

Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan The Office of the President of Azerbaijan () is the executive administration of President of Azerbaijan. The office is in charge of fulfilling the constitutional responsibilities of the President. The headquarters of office is located on Istiglal ...

, the committee comprised 56 members, including ministers, members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, and other heads of state authorities. The organizing committee originally consisted of 28 men. After criticism voiced by several observers, including Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,

Christiana Figueres Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen (born 7 August 1956) is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNF ...

, another two men and eleven women were added to the panel.

COP29 Presidency

Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Mukhtar Babayev, served as President of the COP29. Babayev previously worked as Vice President for ecology at

oil company

. Other members of the COP29 Presidency Team included Yalchin Rafiyev as the lead negotiator, Deputy Minister of Energy Elnur Soltanov as Chief Executive Officer, Narmin Jarchalova as the Chair of the COP29 Azerbaijan Operating Company and Chief Operating Officer, Nigar Arpadarai as the Climate Change High-Level Champion, and Leyla Hasanova as the Youth Climate Champion.

Conference agenda

COP29 aimed to implement further measures to limit

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

to 1.5°C, emphasizing the urgent need for investment in

climate action Climate action (or climate change action) refers to a range of activities, mechanisms, policy instruments, and so forth that aim at reducing the severity of human-induced climate change and its impacts. "More climate action" is a central demand o ...

. The COP29 Presidency stressed the importance of operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund to support vulnerable communities, particularly in

Small Island Developing States The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a grouping of developing country, developing countries which are small island country, island countries and small states that tend to share similar sustainable development challenges. These include s ...

(SIDS) and

Least Developed Countries The least developed countries (LDCs) are developing countries listed by the United Nations that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development. The concept of LDCs originated in the late 1960s and the first group of LDCs was listed b ...

(LDCs), while calling for enhanced

(NDCs) in line with 1.5°C targets and urging the submission of national NDCs by 2025, with a focus on

fossil fuel phase-out Fossil fuel phase-out is the proposed gradual global reduction of the use and production of fossil fuels to zero, to reduce air pollution, limit climate change, and strengthen energy independence. It is part of the ongoing renewable energy tra ...

, increasing

, and addressing non- carbon-dioxide emissions, such as

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

. On adaptation, the Presidency called for all countries to prepare and submit their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) by 2025 and emphasized the need for scaling up adaptation finance. In addition, COP29 encouraged global financial institutions and the private sector to increase climate finance and foster investment in green innovation. The summit aimed to provide platforms to mobilize business participation and enhance transparency in investment decisions to support climate action.

Venue and zone structure

In April 2024, Azerbaijan announced the

as the venue for the conference. The city developed a venue next to the stadium. The event was expected to welcome around 80,000 attendees, including senior government officials at the venue. COP29 operated within two main zones: the Blue Zone, dedicated to official negotiations among government delegations, international organizations, and selected

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

, featuring national pavilions where countries presented climate initiatives; and the Green Zone, which was accessible to the public and resembled a

trade fair A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific Industry (economics), industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest Product (business), products and se ...

, with corporate exhibitors showcasing climate-related products and services.

Climate finance

Keir_Starmer_chats_with_Akinwumi_Adesina_COP29_Azerbaijan

At COP29, climate finance was considered to be a central topic, focusing on scaling up resources for developing countries to address climate impacts and transition to low-carbon economies. A key agenda item was the negotiation of the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, which would set a new financial target to support developing countries after 2025, building on the previous $100 billion annual commitment. Proposed solutions included blended finance, which combined

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

and private investments to amplify funding for climate initiatives, and debt-for-nature swaps, which would allow countries to re-allocate debt repayments toward environmental and climate projects. Among the major developments,

multilateral development banks An international financial institution (IFI) is a financial institution that has been established (or chartered) by more than one country, and hence is subject to international law. Its owners or shareholders are generally national governments, alt ...

, including the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

, pledged to increase climate-related lending to $120 billion annually for low- and middle-income countries, while the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

announced $7.2 billion in additional investments and a $3.5 billion adaptation program targeting glacial melting in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

and the

Southern Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

. Non-profit investor Acumen pledged $300 million for agricultural adaptation in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, while the Climate Investment Funds launched a $75 billion bond issuance program on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

. The Association of Banks of Azerbaijan also committed nearly $1.2 billion to support the country's low-carbon transition. At the conference, world leaders ratified a key framework under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, establishing a UN-backed body to regulate international

trading. The decision is expected to unlock billions of dollars in climate finance, mainly destined to developing countries. Delegations also reached an agreement for a deal that would oblige developed nations to make a $300 billion annual climate finance pledge by 2035, in order to help developing countries get access to wider economic resources to tackle emissions and climate disasters. However, poorer nations criticized the amount as insufficient, with many pushing for a minimum $500 billion target. While the deal was seen as a small step, critics, including UN officials, called it a betrayal, especially due to the lack of mandatory contributions for emerging economies like China. Key points of tension in the negotiations were the donor base, in which developed economies such as the US and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

had insisted that more countries with resources like China and the

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ), is a Regional integration, regional, intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Ba ...

countries should have contributed by default, and the share of funding coming from public budgets, where developing countries had insisted on significant increases in public, non-loan grants. The final $300 billion text stated that climate funding will come from both public and private sources, and encouraged voluntary contributions from developing countries, including China and Middle Eastern countries.

Energy transition

Following COP28 in Dubai, COP29 will focus on advancing the

energy transition An energy transition (or energy system transformation) is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. Most of the sustainab ...

agenda, with particular emphasis on reducing global reliance on fossil fuels and scaling up renewable energy deployment. Key goals include establishing specific timelines for phasing out coal and developing

green hydrogen Green hydrogen (GH2 or GH2) is hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water, using renewable electricity. Production of green hydrogen causes significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than production of grey hydrogen, which is derived fr ...

markets, both of which are critical to achieving the Paris Agreement targets. COP29 will also address

energy security Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption (as opposed to household energy insecurity). Access to cheaper energy has become essential to the functioning of modern ...

concerns, especially for economies heavily dependent on fossil fuels, and will support policies that ensure a just and equitable transition for affected communities. To facilitate these shifts, COP29 is expected to promote collaborative frameworks that enable countries to share technology, expertise, and resources. This includes regional integration of renewable energy grids, which can improve energy access while reducing emissions. By advancing these initiatives, COP29 seeks to create sustainable, resilient energy systems that align with long-term climate goals.

Controversies

COP29 Chief Executive, Elnur Soltanov, was secretly recorded discussing potential oil and gas deals during the conference, raising serious concerns about a breach of COP ethics. Critics argued that Soltanov's behavior undermined the conference's goal of transitioning away from fossil fuels, as Soltanov also held a key role in Azerbaijan's energy sector. EU diplomats criticized Azerbaijan for not putting

on the agenda of the conference, which solely mentioned mitigation. On 31 October 2024,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

, Justin Tkatchenko, announced that the country would boycott the summit entirely, calling it a "total waste of time". In October 2024,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

revealed the HCA between the UN and Azerbaijan, which had been signed in August. Although the COP29 HCA was made public prior to the climate conference, unlike COP28, it was described as "disappointing, but not surprising." HRW said the HCA was full of "significant shortcomings and ambiguities on the protections for participants' rights". The agreement was released alongside HRW's report exposing the efforts of Azerbaijan's government to "silence its critics", where several activists and journalists were arrested on baseless and serious criminal charges. On 14 November 2024, the UN was forced to respond to complaints about the lack of

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

and plant-based food options at the COP29. Reportedly only a single food stall in the event's food court sold vegan options, whereas the majority of food stalls, including a

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., commonly referred to as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware-domiciled and headquartered ...

, sold meat-based meals. In response to the controversy, vegan campaigners handed out free sandwiches. On 15 November 2024, the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition, which included

Global Witness Global Witness is an international NGO that investigates environmental and human rights abuses. The organisation campaigns for greater representation of people affected by the climate crisis in climate decision-making. They have offices in Lon ...

Corporate Accountability Corporate Accountability (formerly INFACT, Corporate Accountability International) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1977. Their campaign headquarters are in Boston, Massachusetts, and they have offices in Oakland, California; Seattle, Washi ...

, and

Corporate Europe Observatory The Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a non-profit research and campaign group whose declared aim is to "expose any effects of corporate lobbying on EU policy making". It is based in Brussels. The team (2021) consists of 13 staff members ...

, reported that at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to the COP29 climate summit in

, surpassing the size of nearly each national delegation, except for Azerbaijan (2,229),

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

(1,914), and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

(1,862). According to the KBPO, the report highlighted the "disproportionate presence" of industry representatives in comparison to delegates from the ten most climate-vulnerable nations, which had collectively sent 1,033 participants. On 23 November 2024, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' revealed that a Saudi Arabian delegate had allegedly tried to modify an official negotiating text, a type of document that was usually circulated as non-editable

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

by COP presidencies to all countries simultaneously. The campaign website cop29.com was purchased by

instead of Azerbaijan's COP29 team and became a focal point of controversy. Backed by notable figures such as actor

Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He began his career in theatre before landing small roles in various British television productions and feature films. Law gained international recognition for his role in An ...

and former UN climate chief

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

, the site advocated for fossil fuel companies to fund climate damages, highlighting their $4 trillion earnings in 2022 compared to the $702 million pledged at the summit. The website was banned at the summit venue, and, according to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', Azerbaijan blocked domestic access to the site in what was described as a "fossil fuel domain name war," intensifying debates over the influence of fossil fuel interests in the COP process.

Frank Pallone Frank Joseph Pallone Jr. ( ; born October 30, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1988. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 3rd district from 1988 to 1993, ...

recounted an alarming encounter during his visit to the UN-led climate conference in Baku. He was confronted by hostile, coordinated questions from local media, which he believed were orchestrated by the Azerbaijani government to intimidate him. He accused the Azerbaijani government of repressing free speech and using the event to deflect criticism of its human rights record.

Ed Markey Edward John Markey (born July 11, 1946) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of ...

also faced harassment, calling out Azerbaijan for "greenwashing" its climate and human rights record. Both lawmakers criticized the country’s treatment of political prisoners and its stance on negotiations with Armenia.

References

External links

COP29 Baku, Azerbaijan: In Solidarity for a Green World
The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change {{Authority control

2024 in international relations 2024 in the environment Events in Baku United Nations climate change conferences 2024 in Azerbaijan