Hikmat Hajiyev: Azerbaijan’s climate role is part of a regional peace bid

Labelling petrostates as unfit hosts for COP29 is a hypocrite’s game. When Azerbaijan hosts COP29 next month, it will be the 28th time the climate summit has been held in an oil and gas producer, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, said in a letter published in The Financial Times.

Hajiyev said Switzerland was the only country which dropped out of this list. Every country in the world — bar none — is a fossil fuel consumer, he noted.

"Instead, it’s wiser to ask how a country came to host, what they plan to achieve and why," Hajiyev said adding that Azerbaijan never anticipated playing host this year.

"Yet in an unprecedented deal last December, Armenia agreed to back Azerbaijan as host as part of ongoing peace talks. Negotiations continue and substantial progress has been achieved Border delimitation commissions are active," Hikmat Hajiyev said.

He noted that many would wish to see an official peace agreement signed before COP, but this is a very different proposition from two sides agreeing a deal in the negotiating room.

"Armenia’s constitution still contains a revanchist claim on Azerbaijani territory. The speed at which we can finalise a peace deal largely depends on how quickly Armenia can move on the issue. Critics calling this stalling should ask if they would sign a peace deal while their former adversary still claims their territory," Hajiyev said.

He added that regardless of whether one is signed by the time COP begins, it will still be a COP of peace because of how it emerged.

Hajiyev noted that this year’s COP will focus on increasing the finance target — the New Collective Quantified Goal — to turn the global transition from fossil fuels into reality.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan has seeded a climate fund, into which we expect other oil and gas producing nations and companies to invest.

"Azerbaijan is demonstrating how an oil and gas producer can transition. We are not only implementing the region’s largest renewable projects but shifting from fossil fuel to electricity exports. In partnership with the EU, Azerbaijan is developing an electricity cable beneath the Black Sea to link Caspian Sea wind power to the continent. While we can’t influence the demand that drives foreign energy markets, we are reshaping the supply side," the letter notes.

Hajiyev said Azerbaijan is hosting COP "because we are walking the path to peace."

"At COP, we will advocate for new funds to finance a just transition from fossil fuels to renewables, a shift we are already actively pursuing ourselves," he said.