Azerbaijan: COP29, hypocrisy and the Green Circus

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), held last year in Baku, was trumpeted by the government as an important event, putting Azerbaijan front and centre on the world stage in the global fight against environmental crises. In reality, like all COP conferences before it, the whole affair was a hypocritical farce that revealed the impotence of combating climate change on a capitalist basis – although it contained a few uniquely cynical twists.

The main sponsor of COP24 in Poland in 2018 was the coal industry. At COP26 in Scotland in 2021, there were 500 representatives from the fossil fuel sector. COP28 was hosted by the United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s main oil producers. And COP29 was held in a country led by an authoritarian regime, and another cradle of the global oil industry. Gas and oil production account for half of Azerbaijan’s GDP and more than 90 percent of its exports.

While the Ilham Aliyev regime has been drumming up rhetoric about the transition to a “green economy”, this stands in stark contrast to the real ecological situation in the country. According to some environmentalists, the Baku region is the most ecologically degraded area in the world.

The ‘Green Transition’ is a ‘Green Circus’

There are many severe environmental problems in the country. An example is the discharge of wastewater into the Caspian Sea, as well as the construction of artificial dams that led to widespread protest last year in the Soyudlu village. Deforestation is also rampant, which leads to the destruction of rare animal species. This is exacerbated by an entire industry built up around attracting rich tourists to hunt these animals for money.

According to government statements, Azerbaijan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent by 2030 and 40 percent by 2050 compared to 1990, and to become a leader in the field of green energy. However, this so-called Green Transition is nothing more than a tool to create the appearance of environmental awareness: to ‘modernise’ the country's image.

In practice, these “green promises” do not translate into actual policies to reduce environmental damage / Image: AlixSaz, Wikimedia Commons

Azerbaijan uses the environmental agenda to increase the attractiveness of its resources and draw foreign investment. In practice, these “green promises” do not translate into actual policies to reduce environmental damage.

For instance, plans to switch to green energy often do not apply to hydrocarbon reserves. Also, so-called green initiatives are also used to strengthen the positions of large corporations. The national oil giant SOCAR is actively involved in the creation of “green” technologies through “SOCAR Green”. This subsidiary allows them to monetise the environmental agenda, while ensuring their polluting activities are left untouched.

One of the most striking (and deeply cynical) examples of this ‘Green Circus’ is the initiative to create a “Green Energy” zone in Karabakh, which was recently ethnically cleansed of its Armenian population.

Putting aside the utter debasement of greenwashing a bloody warzone, it is difficult to imagine how sustainable green infrastructure can be created in areas devastated by armed conflict, without addressing more pressing issues such as rebuilding the economy and social infrastructure.

The ruling class is determined to present a positive image to the world through participation in events like COP29, to ensure a steady stream of investments that they can use to expand their already bloated wealth.

The regime’s determination to preserve this image can be seen in the vicious treatment of our comrades Kamran Mammadli and Ismayil Cefersoy, who protested at COP29 against the barbaric practices underway in industrial meat production and for workers' rights, respectively. Security services at COP tried to violently prevent these protests, which were subsequently vilified in the bosses’ media, which howled about "our state being slandered".

It is clear to all of us that the comrades who held this action are facing the danger of reprisal by our corrupt government, and we offer our solidarity. It is not slander to tell the truth about the criminal behaviour of our ruling class, who are the real criminals; having condemned millions of people to ecological catastrophe, not only in Azerbaijan but all over the world.

The importance of democratic planning and the socialist alternative

The enormous problems posed by climate change can only be overcome by completely abandoning capitalism. Today, production processes throughout the world are geared towards maximising the profit of a small elite. Much of this production is carried out to satisfy unnecessary and harmful needs, which are created by huge expenditures on luxury goods, exaggerated consumerism, planned obsolescence or weapons of mass destruction.

The enormous problems posed by climate change can only be overcome by completely abandoning capitalism / Image: Indigoprime, Wikimedia Commons

It will be necessary to mobilise all resources to adapt society to the changes that have already occurred and to begin to repair the damage. This can only be done when society's resources are directed towards meeting real social and ecological needs.

Natural resources such as minerals, water and native vegetation should be considered as common goods that should not be exploited for profit but should be extracted as little as possible and reused as much as possible.

Today, large areas of landfills and oceans are filled with plastic and other waste, because the production of new products is cheaper than recycling. The management of resources by state-owned companies operating according to market logic, such as Azerbaijan’s oil giant SOCAR, serves the interests of only one group: the ruling class.

State-owned companies should be placed under the democratic control and management of workers and included in the democratic planning of the economy. This applies to large companies in other sectors that control the economy and consume huge resources, and all important areas should be taken into account as part of the democratic plan: the transport sector, agribusiness, construction, giants of the consumer sector, whether electronic or electronic products, household appliances, furniture, food, etc.

The choice of Azerbaijan to host COP29 is a clear example of how the big oil and gas countries use environmental rhetoric to promote their own economic interests. This is a manifestation of how capitalism not only lacks the capacity to end climate change but exploits ecological crises to expand its power.

By nationalising the financial sector and banks, along with large companies, it will be possible to break the logic of the market and the power of the small elite that today imposes its interests on the rest of the population. Only then can production begin to be directed towards the needs of the vast majority, and our knowledge, technology, and common goods can be used to begin to repair the damage that capitalism has done to the planet over the centuries.