Azerbaijan should host the 29e UN conference on climate change in a year, according to the country and Russia on Saturday, which would make the second COP in a row chaired by a country heavily dependent on hydrocarbons.
“I am pleased to announce that there is a general consensus around Azerbaijan’s candidacy to host COP29,” Azerbaijani Minister of Ecology Mukhtar Babayev said in a speech at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“We are very grateful for the support of all countries, especially those in the Eastern European Group and the host, the United Arab Emirates. We are committed to working inclusively and collaboratively with all, so that COP29 is a success,” he added.
“We welcome the compromise we have reached in the Eastern European group with regard to COP29,” said Ruslan Edelgeriev, Russian climate envoy.
Blocked for months, the designation of the country to chair COP29 was in the process of being resolved since the announcement that Armenia supported Azerbaijan’s candidacy on Thursday.
Normalization with Armenia
The two Caucasian countries, whose last war dates back to 2020 and which still regularly oppose each other in armed incidents at the border, made a joint statement in which they announced, among other things, that Armenia was withdrawing its candidacy for membership. organization of COP29 and supported that of Azerbaijan. Their two applications neutralized each other and blocked the process.
The climate COPs are organized each year in a different bloc of countries: for this year, Asia has designated the United Arab Emirates, and next year will be the turn of Eastern Europe, whose countries members had to agree, according to UN procedure.
However, Russia opposed the choice of Bulgaria, a member of the European Union.
Finally, Bulgaria announced on Friday that it was withdrawing its candidacy “in a spirit of goodwill”.
Azerbaijan’s designation must still be ratified by all countries at COP28, which ends on Tuesday.
Gas country
Baku was one of the world oil capitals at the beginning of the 20e century, explains to AFP Francis Perrin, energy specialist at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations, “with Russian interests, Shell and the Nobel brothers at the time”.
The country has developed large oil and gas deposits in the Caspian Sea since the 1990s, he continues.
Today gas has become more important than oil for Azerbaijan, a member of OPEC +, mainly exported to Europe.
“The country today remains very dependent on hydrocarbons, which represent a little less than 50% of its GDP, a little more than 50% of its budgetary revenues and a little more than 90% of its export revenues,” adds Francis. Perrin.