Armenia's NGOs Issue Call to COP29: Hold Azerbaijan Accountable for Environmental and Human Rights Abuses

The civil society organizations of Armenia have made a call to the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the participants of COP29. The call reads as follows:

In November 2024, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in [the Azerbaijani capital of] Baku, where key issues will be discussed.

We, the undersigned organizations of the civil society of the Republic of Armenia, emphasize the importance of civil society's participation in international processes concerning climate change. However, being unable to participate in COP29 in Baku due to Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policies, we are issuing this statement.

The decision to hold COP29 in Baku was problematic in itself, considering not only the fact that such an event is being held in a country with a fossil fuel-based economy but also the reality that this state uses profits from these resources to expand military aggression and blatantly violate international law. This includes the military aggression launched in Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020, accompanied by grave war crimes, the blockade and starvation of over 100,000 Armenians for more than nine months, the constant terrorizing of the population, the military attack in September 2023, the forced displacement of Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian population, and the complete ethnic cleansing, as well as military attacks on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and the occupation of certain areas.

While pretending to engage in peace negotiations with Armenia, the Azerbaijani authorities continue the decades-long state-level anti-Armenian propaganda and the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage and traces in the territories under their control.

By occupying strategic heights in the sovereign territory of Armenia, Azerbaijan has gained control over roads and settlements, directly threatening the safety of the civilian population and facilitating its access to Armenia’s natural resources, including mines, forests, and water sources. Certain forests (“Shikahogh” State Reserve and “Plane Grove” Sanctuary) and water basins (Jermuk Hydrological Reserve and Sev Lakes) are under the control of Azerbaijani military forces and are entirely inaccessible to the local population of those areas.

For months, Azerbaijan has been posing new demands to Armenia as preconditions for signing a peace agreement, and recently it refused to sign an agreement on already agreed-upon issues. Simultaneously, it intensified its demand to remove the European Union's civilian monitoring mission from Armenia, which essentially confirms that this country has no intention of achieving peace, that the so-called “Peace COP” was a façade, and that COP29 may be followed by another war in the region.

Azerbaijan continues to hold 23 ethnic Armenians, including prisoners of war and civilians, who were captured at various times since 2020. Among them are former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, whom Azerbaijan uses as bargaining chips to extract concessions from Armenia, such as Armenia's agreement to host COP29 in Azerbaijan. The captured Armenians are accused or convicted of fabricated crimes, with gross violations of their right to a fair trial. Reports from the UN Committee against Torture and Human Rights Watch testify to the cruel treatment, torture, and severe violations of international humanitarian law and human rights against Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan. Their immediate release and return to Armenia are urgent.

According to documented data from human rights defenders, during the armed conflicts of 2020-2023, at least 80 more Armenians were captured in Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijani authorities providing no information on their whereabouts. Around 200 individuals are also missing, but international or Armenian search teams have not been granted access to recover the remains of the deceased for their families.

Azerbaijan's aggressive regime also persecutes its own dissenting citizens, including journalists, human rights defenders, and environmental activists, with the number of imprisoned individuals ranging between 250 and 300 according to various sources. International reports indicate that, due to continuous repression, an independent civil society in Azerbaijan has almost entirely disappeared. Therefore, it is expected that Azerbaijani civil society organizations participating in COP29 will advance [Azerbaijani president] Ilham Aliyev's agenda.

To prevent legitimizing the inhumane policies of Azerbaijan’s regime, we call upon the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the participants of COP29 to make use of all platforms and opportunities during the event to highlight the imperative and expectation of ensuring peace in the region and building mutual trust.

We urge you to condemn Azerbaijan for war crimes in Nagorno-Karabakh, violations of humanitarian law, ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Armenian population, the destruction of Armenian historical and cultural heritage, and environmental crimes, and to demand accountability from Azerbaijan.

Immediately, before the start of COP29, release the officially confirmed 23 Armenian prisoners of war and civilians.

Ensure access for international organizations to closed facilities to identify other captured individuals and facilitate search operations to return the remains of deceased individuals to their families in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Release Azerbaijan's dissenting prisoners of conscience and political detainees.

At the same time, we draw your attention to Azerbaijan's actions aimed at concealing its illegal activities and crimes under a “greenwashing” narrative, and we expect an appropriate assessment of these actions, particularly.

The initiative by Azerbaijan to establish a "Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF)" through voluntary contributions from fossil fuel-producing countries and companies contradicts the philosophy of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

Azerbaijan’s declared commitment to creating “green energy zones and corridors,” as introduced in the COP29 agenda, is disingenuous. During the war in 2020, Azerbaijan used chemical weapons in Nagorno-Karabakh and destroyed 1,815 hectares of forest. Currently, it is also engaging in mass deforestation in the sovereign territory of Armenia, devastating ecosystems, building a network of roads spanning tens of kilometers over the destroyed greenery, and planting mines, restricting the movement of nearby residents and depriving them of access to water.

The concept of a “ceasefire” during the COP, promoted by Azerbaijan in the style of the Olympic truce, is nothing more than an attempt to obscure its past and present aggressions, evade accountability, and later justify renewed military actions after COP29. Reminder: Azerbaijan ignored the UN Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and initiated an attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, violating the principle of resolving the conflict exclusively by peaceful means.

To overcome the obstacles to addressing climate challenges, we call on the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the conference bureau, and the participants of COP29 to: Take steps to ensure the implementation of the principles of climate justice and the alleviation of energy poverty.

Set a new global climate finance target to support developing countries in their efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change and adapt to them.

Establish accountability mechanisms to ensure transparency and responsibility in the programs funded by climate and green funds, avoiding manipulations.

Guide global climate policy towards the development of genuine indicators for climate damages and achievements.

Refrain from encouraging governments that base their budgets on gas and oil extraction and serve the interests of oil and gas corporations with climate resources and green funds.

End the policy of double standards, which allows international companies engaged in oil and gas business to increase their profits through expanding extraction, in violation of the fundamental principles and obligations outlined by the Convention, the Paris Agreement, and other international regulatory documents.

Support the creation of a disability group (constituency) in international climate processes to ensure that the voices of people with disabilities are heard and that climate policies are inclusive and accessible.

Include in the “Non-State Actors Action Platform” established and operating under the Paris Agreement—where local community groups and indigenous peoples are represented—not only peoples without their own states but also forcibly displaced indigenous peoples, including Armenians forcibly displaced from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

Signatories

“EcoLur” Informational NGO

“Khazer” Ecological and Cultural NGO

“Forests of Armenia” NGO

Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center

“Asparez” Journalists' Club

Foundation for Democracy Development

“Natural Economy” Climate Civic Circulating Investment Fund

“Disability Rights Agenda” NGO

“Protection of Rights Without Borders” NGO

“Agate” Rights Protection Center for Women with Disabilities NGO

“Dalma-Sona” Educational, Cultural, Social, and Environmental Foundation

“Healthy Environment” NGO

“Union of the Deaf of Armenia” NGO

Armenian Environmental Front Volunteer Initiative

“Green Armenia” NGO

“Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities” Disability Advocacy NGO

“Center for Territorial Development and Research” NGO

“Public Awareness and Monitoring Center” NGO

Foundation for the Development and Protection of Rights

“Peace Dialogue” NGO

“Democratic Platform” Foundation

“MITQ” Educational-Youth Initiative NGO

“Human Rights Research Center” NGO

“Change” NGO

“Center for Community Mobilization and Support” NGO

“Restart Ijevan” Scientific-Educational NGO

“PINK” Human Rights Defender NGO

“Shogher Union” Social-Educational NGO

Union of Informed Citizens

“Journalists for Human Rights” NGO

“Helsinki Association Human Rights” NGO

“Progressive Youth of Armenia” NGO

“Women’s Support Center” NGO

“Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women” NGO

“Educational Center for Equal Rights” NGO

Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office

“Civic Youth Center” Community Development NGO

Center for Policy Research

“Restart” Civil-Youth Foundation

“Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment” NGO

“Ecological right” NGO

“Blejan” environmental, social, business support NGO

“Restart Gyumri” Youth Civic Center NGO

Armenian Green (Social-Ecological) Party

“Green Path” environmental NGO

“National Water Cooperation” NGO

Foundation to Save Energy

“NGO Center” Civil Society Development NGO

“Goy” environmental-legal NGO

“Yanus” legal NGO

“Environmental Survival” NGO

“Martuni Women's Community Council” NGO

“Emergency Channel” Informational NGO