The decision comes two weeks after Azerbaijan – which is set to host the UN COP29 climate summit later this year – had announced the appointment of an all-men organizational committee.
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Azerbaijan has backtracked following a backlash over the appointment of an all-men committee tasked with organizing the upcoming UN climate summit, COP29, which is set to take place in the capital Baku in November.
On Friday, Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev announced the addition of 12 women to the 28-member committee – most of whom are government officials and members of parliament, bringing the total number to 40. On the same day, some 75 women leaders from business and academia issued a letter to Aliyev, urging him to backtrack and ensure “the best minds come together to advance solutions” at the upcoming summit.
“The absence or underrepresentation of women in the top team organising COP29 can only serve to diminish the progress we need from these climate talks,” the letter read.
Among the signatories were members of SHE Changes Climate, a global movement committed to ensuring women’s representation at international negotiations that last week slammed Azerbaijan’s decision as “regressive,” saying that “climate change affects the whole world, not half of it.”
Historically, women have always been underrepresented at the UN climate summit, with only five women serving as presidents in 29 years of COPs.
🔉| The president of Azerbaijan has added 12 women to the previously all-male #COP29 organising committee. “This is positive progress but we're still far from a 50:50 gender balance. This is a quick fix but not enough.” — Elise Buckle, #SHEChangesClimatehttps://t.co/j6pk4U2fkp — SHE Changes Climate (@SheClimate) January 19, 2024
Azerbaijan is already under pressure for its heavy reliance on fossil fuels and the connections of Mukhtar Babayev, the country’s ecology minister and COP29 president-designate, with state-owned oil and gas company Socar, where he worked for more than two decades. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), oil and gas account for about 90% of its exports’ revenue and 60% of the government’s budget.
Socar attended the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, last week, where business leaders from around the world meet once a year to debate the most pressing global problems and seek solutions to these challenges. According to a post on social media X (formerly Twitter), the company’s president Rovshan Najaf met with US Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Rick Duke to discuss a “potential collaboration on decarbonization.”
Featured image: World Economic Forum/Flickr
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