The president of Azerbaijan has appointed 12 women to the COP29 organizing committee, whose initial composition, 100% male, had aroused the anger of NGOs and politicians, according to an order published Friday by the agency of Azerbaijani press APA.
In view of the 29e United Nations conference on climate change, scheduled for December in Baku, President Ilham Aliev appointed on January 13 an organizing committee made up of 28 men, mainly ministers and heads of administration.
The absence of women “is a regression on the path to gender parity in the climate field, but there is still time to change,” the NGO She Changes Climate criticized in a press release on Monday.
“No woman to welcome… could mean… no woman willing to come… therefore no quorum… therefore… no COP”, wrote on X (ex-Twitter) the Spanish Minister of the Environment, Teresa Ribera, who co-led the European delegation to COP28 in Dubai.
The new composition of the committee includes 13 more names, including 12 women, including Sabina Aliyeva, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ilhama Gadimova and Deputy Minister of Ecology Umayra Taghiyeva, as well as two deputies from the presidential party, Nigar Arpadarai and Sevinj Fataliyeva.
Azerbaijan, almost half of whose economy depends on hydrocarbons, will host COP29 from November 11 to 22, 2024.
The COP will be chaired by the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Mukhtar Babayev, formerly of the oil company Socar.
This is the second year in a row that the COP will be chaired by a man from the fossil fuel industry, following COP28 led by Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of the UAE’s national oil and gas company.
COP presidents do not have a decision-making role, but are essential to catalyze negotiations and propose compromises.
COP28 produced a historic agreement paving the way for the gradual abandonment of fossil fuels, the main causes of global warming, despite numerous concessions to oil and gas powers.
Financing the transition away from fossil fuels, particularly in developing countries, and the reassessment of financial aid from developed countries, will be priorities for COP29.