Baku, November 16, AZERTAC

Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, spoke on the issue of Armenia’s and France’s absence from COP29 in an interview with Azerbaijan Television.

The Presidential Assistant stated that, as a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Azerbaijan had sent invitations to all party countries of the Convention, including Armenia and France. He said, “Almost all members of the Convention are in Baku. When looking at the COP29 venue and observing the vibrant atmosphere and discussions underway between representatives of states and civil society organizations, we can once again witness that the world is in Azerbaijan today. More than 75,000 participants are registered for COP29. Therefore, whether Armenia is present or not doesn’t impact us.”

In the statement, Hikmet Hajiyev also commented on whether Armenia is serious about climate change and climate transformation. He noted that the report prepared by the UN Environment Programme on the negative effects of climate change on the South Caucasus, before the start of COP29, mentions trends such as the melting of glaciers in the region’s mountains, the lowering of the Caspian Sea level, and the reduction of precipitation. Hikmet Hajiyev said, “We believed that Armenia’s participation in COP29 could have been a useful opportunity for discussing cooperation in the South Caucasus, including important climate change issues. But Armenia's absence from the session shows that its position regarding COP is nothing more than feeble propaganda and that this country is not at all serious about the issue. With the participation and support of Armenia’s state bodies, a number of ugly propaganda campaigns have been conducted against Azerbaijan. This is Armenia’s position. We thought that by participating in COP29, Armenia could contribute to confidence-building and the dialogue process at the regional level. But Armenia withdrew from these processes itself.”

Hikmet Hajiyev also added that it is incomprehensible that France, a country that claims to be ready for open dialogue and criticism, took the position of an offended state instead of engaging in constructive dialogue and discussion at COP29. He noted that small island states in the middle of the ocean are facing an existential threat due to climate change. The overseas regions of France and the Netherlands are essentially geographical areas belonging to the category of small island states. Since they do not have their own administration and are still managed as overseas regions, representatives of these territories cannot raise their voices regarding climate problems. “If we accept that the climate problem is a global one, it is necessary to act on the principle of inclusion and give each party the opportunity to raise their issues. This would be normal. However, unfortunately, France, which always talks about inclusiveness and encourages constructive criticism, took a resentful position after facing criticism, tried to withdraw, and added a political coloring to the process. This is a UN event. Each state has the right to participate or not to participate in it. Therefore, this is France's own decision,” Hikmet Hajiyev said.