In Tbilisi, Georgia, climate activist Greta Thunberg participated in a demonstration on Monday, objecting to Azerbaijan’s role as host of the annual United Nations climate talks.
Thunberg, alongside numerous other activists, gathered in the capital of this South Caucasus country to express their discontent about Azerbaijan’s right to host the conference due to its oppressive governance.
The U.N. climate talks, known as COP29, kicked off on Monday in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, recognized as a significant oil producer and the site of the world’s inaugural oil well.
Thunberg characterized Azerbaijan as “a repressive, occupying state” involved in ethnic cleansing and actively suppressing the civil rights of its citizens. She asserted that the nation has exploited the summit as an opportunity to disguise its transgressions against human rights.
“We must not legitimize their actions, which is precisely why we are here to denounce greenwashing and oppose the Azerbaijani regime,” she stated emphatically.
Despite Azerbaijan’s pledges to invest in clean energy initiatives, many skeptics believe these efforts are primarily aimed at facilitating the export of additional oil and gas resources.
President Ilham Aliyev has been in power since 2003, having taken over after the death of his father, who had ruled the oil-rich country for a decade before him. Critics allege that Aliyev exhibits a lack of tolerance for dissent and restricts freedom of expression.
Earlier this year, Aliyev secured another seven-year term after an election that observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe described as occurring in a “restrictive environment” lacking genuine political competition. Aliyev called for early elections amid rising popularity following Azerbaijani gains in the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists, who had governed the area for thirty years.
Following the restoration of Azerbaijan’s control over Karabakh, a significant portion of its 120,000 Armenian citizens chose to leave. Nonetheless, Azerbaijani authorities have stated that they are welcome to remain, promising to protect their human rights.
At just 21, Thunberg has galvanized a worldwide youth movement advocating for more robust actions against climate change, initiated by her weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament, which began in 2018.
Earlier this month, the European climate service Copernicus reported that the world is on track for a 1.5 degrees Celsius increase in temperature this year, suggesting it may become the hottest year recorded in human history.
During her speech at the rally in Tbilisi, Thunberg highlighted that this record heat coincides with a peak in global greenhouse gas emissions observed last year. She remarked on the absurdity of holding the climate conference “in an authoritarian petro state.”