No Weddings, No Students, No Schoolchildren: Azerbaijan Prepares to Host UN Climate Summit

The BBC asked the conference organizers whether there was a ban on restaurants, function rooms and hotels taking bookings during the conference, but did not receive a response.

The restrictions have already reminded many Baku residents of the pandemic period, when weddings were also banned, restaurants were closed, and students were sent to remote learning or vacation.

Residents of the capital say there are already rumors that people will only be allowed to go out on the streets for two hours a day during the conference, as was the case during the lockdown. Azerbaijan, by the way, still keeps its land borders closed more than four years after the start of the pandemic under the pretext of fighting Covid.

“With closed borders, restrictions, I am ready to believe in this [going outside with permits],” said Malakhat, a pensioner who works in catering – preparing national dishes to order. She fears that it will be possible to go outside only for two hours a day, which could destroy Malakhat’s small business. But so far the authorities have not spoken about such restrictions.

People are used to being asked to sacrifice many freedoms and comforts for the sake of the country’s prestige. Long before the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the city center, where the race track is located, was fenced off, and people had a hard time finding a way to get to Primorsky Boulevard, a traditional place for walks on hot summer evenings.

Conflict of interest?

Transparency International, meanwhile, calls the climate conference in Azerbaijan a “troubling conflict of interest.” The rights activists note that the country is “climate-unfriendly,” produces oil, and plans to triple its gas production. And the event will be chaired by a man who previously held senior positions in the state oil company for 20 years.

Azerbaijan’s environmental image raises questions for many. The country has not yet managed to solve the problem of collecting and recycling household waste.

Azerbaijan is known for its large number of sunny days, and Baku is even called the “city of winds”. According to the International Energy Agency, the share of renewable energy sources (including hydroelectric power plants) in Azerbaijan amounted to only 1% of total production.

“Inviting fossil fuel interests to play the role of climate defenders is a waste of time,”  says Oil Change International, which calls Azerbaijan’s behavior “reputation greenwashing” (similar to “whitewashing”).

Both Azerbaijani journalists and international human rights activists call COP29 a “greening” of reputation, noting that the event is being held during a new wave of repression against the media, as well as critics of the regime.

From “whitening” to “greening”

In Azerbaijan, the authorities have previously presented major international events to the public as a great international success for the country and its permanent leader Ilham Aliyev. This was the case with the Eurovision Song Contest, Formula 1 auto racing, the European Games and other major events.

Azerbaijan even applied to host the Olympic Games, although unsuccessfully. But this did not prevent the construction of a sports town, stadium and sports complexes in various cities, which are still called Olympic.

And then, too, there were critics who said that Azerbaijan was using major international events to whitewash its own reputation, which was hampered by human rights violations.

One of them was human rights activist Rasul Jafarov, who since 2012, when Azerbaijan hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, has organized his own  alternative contest in Baku, Sing for Democracy, to draw attention to human rights and democracy. He last held such a contest in 2014, after which he ended up in prison on charges of financial crimes.

In December 2022, protesting “environmental activists” blocked the road from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for several months, after which Azerbaijan fully regained control of the breakaway region in September 2023, and Armenians left. At that time, activists were presented as an important force supported by the authorities. It is not yet clear whether COP29 will become a pretext for new protests by such eco-activists.