Hikmat Hajiyev comments on France and Armenia's non-participation in COP29

In an interview with COP29, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, addressed the non-participation of Armenia and France.

According to Report, he noted that Azerbaijan, as a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, sent invitations to all member countries of the Convention, including Armenia and France, based on its responsibilities and obligations.

According to Hajiyev, almost all convention members are in Baku: "At COP29, we see a dynamic situation, discussions between representatives of states and civil society organizations, and we are once again convinced that the world's attention is focused on Azerbaijan. More than 75,000 participants have registered for COP29. Therefore, Armenia's participation or non-participation does not affect us in any way."

Hajiyev also addressed the question of Armenia's seriousness regarding climate change and climate transformation. He emphasized that the UN Environment Programme report published ahead of COP29 on the negative impact of climate change in the South Caucasus noted negative trends in the region, such as glacier melting in the mountains, declining water levels in the Caspian Sea, and decreased precipitation: "We thought Armenia's participation in COP29 could have been a useful opportunity for cooperation in the South Caucasus region, including joint discussion of important issues like climate change. However, Armenia's non-participation shows that its position towards COP until today is nothing more than petty propaganda, and this country is not serious about this issue either. With the participation and support of Armenian state structures, smear propaganda is being conducted against Azerbaijan. That's this country's position. We thought that by joining COP29, Armenia would contribute to the process of building trust and dialogue at the regional level. However, Armenia took the opposite position."

Hajiyev added that it's unclear why France, instead of engaging in constructive dialogue and discussion at COP29, took the position of an offended party. He noted that small island states face an existential threat due to climate change consequences. "The overseas territories of France and the Netherlands also fall into the category of small island states. Since they don't have their own governance, representatives of these territories cannot raise climate issues. If we recognize that the climate problem is global, based on the principle of inclusivity, we need to give every party the opportunity to raise problems. This is a normal situation. But unfortunately, France, which talks about inclusivity and always encourages constructive criticism, took an offended position and tried to give this a different political shade. This is a UN event. Here, every state has the right to participate or not participate. This is France's own decision," he concluded.