Majority of opposition groups pull out of UN climate change summit in Azerbaijan, citing human rights concerns

Most of the opposition on Parliament Hill boycotted this year's annual United Nations conference on climate change, citing human rights concerns in host country Azerbaijan less than a year after nearly 120,000 ethnic Armenians were displaced from their homes. in the once disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“This is the first time that there will be no green MPs to attend, due to the selection of the host country,” said Kitchener-Centre Green Party MP Mike Morrice.

Morrice said that Azerbaijan's credibility as a host of COP29 is questionable, given that it is a major oil producer. But he said “the reality of the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian people makes this decision even worse.”

He urged the federal government to limit its participation to a small number of representatives, with no elected officials except Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.

A Canadian-Armenian political advocacy group, the Armenian National Committee of Canada, says only Canadian civil servants should attend and elected officials should not go.

“Countries with the record that Azerbaijan has, by themselves, should not be hosts,” said Morrice.

In a statement sent to CBC News, the NDP and Bloc Québécois also said they are not sending any representatives to the conference.

“There are serious concerns about human rights in Azerbaijan where COP29 is being hosted. The NDP will not be absent,” the NDP said.

The Bloc Québécois said its critics of the environment and climate change are not available to go.

Bloc climate change critic, MP Kristina Michaud, told CBC News that she is not going because she does not want to travel long distances while pregnant, and because of the Armenian emigration.

He said: “I consider myself an ally of Armenia, so I am very sad to go to Azerbaijan.”

He said it is ironic that the UN has held climate change conferences in oil-producing countries for two years in a row, after the United Arab Emirates will host them in 2023.

“The discomfort was there in Dubai last year, and I dare to believe that it will be the same in Baku this year,” he said. “Despite this, I continue to believe that our presence at this international forum is important, but it will be without me this year.”

The presence of the Cabinet is unclear

In a statement released last week, Guilbeault's office told CBC News that no decision has been made “but it is possible that the minister will be able to attend.”

Guilbeault has criticized Azerbaijan's fuel record in the past.

“We expect countries that host international meetings such as climate change meetings or environmental meetings like we have done to ensure that they do not put their interests ahead of international ones,” he told reporters before a cabinet meeting in June.

“We are not going to Azerbaijan to promote Azerbaijan's interests. We are going there to work together, to make sure we come to a cooperative solution to fight climate change and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.”

Last year, the Canadian Space Agency refrained from sending representatives to an international conference hosted by Azerbaijan, citing human rights concerns.

In September, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly issued a statement commenting on last year's events in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that “more than 100,000 citizens, including 30,000 children, were forcibly expelled from Armenia” due to the military campaign of Azerbaijan, which she called. “inappropriate.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two major wars in the past three decades over part of the territory, which had an Armenian majority but is part of Azerbaijan under international law. The self-proclaimed republic of Armenia, which is not recognized by the UN, was dissolved last year after the withdrawal.

The two countries have been locked in a slow-moving peace process since then. Baku said Armenians who escaped last year were welcome to return to Azerbaijan under its rule, although there were many reports of Azerbaijani soldiers destroying Armenian homes and cultural sites. No one is reported to have accepted the Azerbaijani government's offer to return.

“Canada must make it clear that it is against the exploitation of a global forum like COP29 by democratic governments that want to clean up their image,” Sevag Belian of the Armenian National Committee of Canada told a press conference on Tuesday.

The Armenian government itself supported Azerbaijan hosting COP29.

Armenia will host COP17, the UN conference on biodiversity, next year.