Trump’s Outrageous Disregard for Climate Change Endangers the World

Chloe Atkinson

 November 21, 2024
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Image by Li-An Lim.

World leaders, negotiators, lobbyists and NGOs are meeting in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for COP29.

COP (Conference of Parties) is comprised of approximately 200 countries that ratified the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in 1992. The representatives of these countries meet every year to negotiate the best approaches to tackling the root causes of climate change.

But this year, a black cloud hangs over the conference as the United States is expected to pull out of climate discussions under a Trump administration.

President-elect Donald Trump aims to give a free pass to polluting nations while ignoring the catastrophic weather changes such as massive fires, floods, and storms that have devastated cities and communities around the world.

Many experts see this as not just irresponsible but downright dangerous, risking lives and livelihoods for the sake of short-term political gains.

The UN climate conference – the 29th such gathering, which will run from 11-22 November – has been billed as the “finance COP” as countries are due to set a new global climate finance goal this year.

Ahead of COP30 in Brazil next year, representatives will be submitting strong national climate commitments – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

More than 100 heads of state and government have confirmed their attendance, according to UN sources.

But several world leaders and government officials have said they won’t be attending the conference.

The UN’s decision to host COP29 in Baku has been criticized, given the ongoing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

As the BBC noted, Azerbaijan plans to expand gas production over the next decade. Many experts believe that with such a goal, Azerbaijan should not be hosting a conference that aims to transition away from fossil fuels. Azerbaijani officials are being accused of using the climate conference as a tool to boost investment in the country’s national oil and gas company.

There are also deep reservations about holding this key event in a country with a poor human rights record, where political opposition isn’t tolerated.

Naturally, Armenian NGOs are boycotting COP29, accusing Azerbaijan of “greenwashing” its dismal human rights record and environmental damage in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The NGOs accuse Azerbaijan of engaging in deforestation, landmine planting, and the destruction of cultural heritage in the occupied territories.

Aside from the anger over hosting COP29 in Baku, Trump’s return to the White House in January means we can expect a second U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and a weakened global front against climate change.

During his first administration, in 2020, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, arguing that it imposed unfair economic burdens on the country.

But Trump’s disengagement from the Agreement damaged America’s international reputation and leadership on climate issues.

Contrary to his views, most countries support active participation in global climate initiatives such as the COP meetings and the Paris Agreement, seeing collaboration as essential for addressing the scale of global warming.

Under the Paris agreement signed in 2015, world leaders pledged to try to collaborate on preventing global temperatures rising by more than 1.5C. Without this concerted effort, climate change will only worsen.

Trump’s withdrawal is a retreat from global responsibility and will only weaken international efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions. By favoring fossil fuel industries over renewable energy investments, Trump willfully ignores the economic benefits of clean energy and environmental protection.

The point of COP is to underscore the urgency of cutting emissions and to emphasize that the climate crisis requires immediate, collaborative action. Now, Trump’s own actions will encourage other nations to disregard COP’s importance.

The right thing to do would be to remain in the Paris agreement and participate in COP summits. By doing so, the U.S. would be able to maintain its role as a global leader on climate change, influencing other countries to follow suit and collectively achieve meaningful emissions reductions.

But nothing will come of COP29 if Trump dismisses the urgency of the climate crisis, undermines global cooperation, and puts America at odds with the rest of the world in combating an existential threat.

Trump’s approach to the Paris Agreement isn’t just wrong; it is a reckless, short-sighted betrayal of responsibility, a shameful abdication of leadership, and an outrageous disregard for the catastrophic impacts of climate change that are already evident today.

Chloe Atkinson is a climate change activist and consultant on global climate affairs.

Activists at U.N. Climate Talks Push Rich Countries to Pay for Green Transition

By Asad Rehman, Amy Goodman

November 19, 2024

Source: Democracy Now!

We are broadcasting live from the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, which has entered its second and final week, and already there is frustration over a lack of progress on the key issue of financing the energy transition and climate adaptation in Global South countries. Asad Rehman, executive director of War on Want and lead spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition, says this year’s summit is supposed to be “the finance COP” and calls for about $5 trillion a year in financing, but “rich, developed countries are putting pennies on the table.” He also addresses the overwhelming presence of industry lobbyists at the annual summits and calls from some activists to boycott the talks. “If we, as civil society, weren’t here also holding the feet of Global North governments to the fire, we would see much worse outcomes than we are seeing already,” says Rehman.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

We’re broadcasting live from the United Nations climate summit here in Baku, Azerbaijan, which has entered its second and final week. There’s already frustration over a lack of progress on the key issue of financing the energy transition and climate adaptation in Global South countries. This comes after last year’s climate summit, COP28 in Dubai, where world leaders agreed to transition away from fossil fuels, after past summits just called for restrictions.

We just heard voices of protest. Now we’re joined by one of those people, Asad Rehman. He’s executive director of War on Want and lead spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition.

Well, another COP, another interview with you, Asad.

ASAD REHMAN: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re here in Azerbaijan, a leading petrostate in the world, following last year’s COP summit in another petrostate, in the United Arab Emirates. Can you talk about, for people who aren’t familiar with these U.N. gatherings, the significance of this, what you expect to come out of it, and what you’re seeing actually happen through this last week?

ASAD REHMAN: Well, Amy, the last time we spoke, I think it was in Dubai. The bombs were dropping on Gaza. We, as civil society, were standing in solidarity with our colleagues who were dying in Gaza, and saying, “We must stand up for human rights.” And a year later, of course, we have now the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, countless human rights reports all talking about war crimes, crimes against humanity, a genocide taking place, genocide taking place in Gaza — and, of course, all with impunity and active complicity of some of the most powerful countries in the world — the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union. And the very rules of war — rules of the international rules system, multilateralism is being burnt to the ground. So we came in here with a very heavy heart. Our colleagues are still being killed. We see food being used as a weapon of war. The importance of human rights propelled us to, of course, use this moment to raise our voice and still call for a ceasefire and, of course, call for end to complicity.

But the negotiation themselves, it’s often been called the finance COP. And the reason why it’s called the finance COP is this COP is meant to agree what the next quantum, which is the collective goal of money that is meant to be provided from the Global North to the Global South because of the responsibility of the Global North for causing this crisis — and what that figure will be, what the quality of that money will be. Will it be in public finance, or will it be in debt-created loans? Will it be in private finance? All of these things are being thought out over here in week one and in week two.

AMY GOODMAN: So, I want to ask why you’re here and why so many thousands of people have come to this climate summit. Prominent climate activist Greta Thunberg announced last week she’s not attending this COP summit over Azerbaijan’s climate and human rights record. She spoke Friday in Yerevan, Armenia.


GRETA THUNBERG: I think we have to stop pretending that conferences like the COP, that currently are not leading to any even close to meaningful climate action that we need — for example, last year, we saw an all-time high of greenhouse gas emissions, and 2024 is set to be the hottest year ever recorded. These COP processes are failing us. … Having these conferences as greenwash platforms for politicians to pretend that they’re taking action, of course, it’s also greenwashing the human rights abuses that these countries are committing. So, it’s both greenwashing and greenwashing the climate action and greenwashing their ethnic cleansing.

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Greta Thunberg, the well-known Swedish climate and human rights activist. Asad Rehman, you made a different decision.

ASAD REHMAN: Yes, because I see these spaces as fundamentally being about a question about power. We know that the rich and powerful have got way more power than ordinary people, and this is a contested space. And we have to build our power, make sure our politicians act in our interests, in the interests of the planet, and not of the rich and the elite and big business. And that’s true at national level as in a global level.

But it is important that we’re here, because we’re the ears, eyes and voice of those on the frontlines. Many people come here with the hard evidence to try and influence these negotiations. And knowing the imbalance of power that exists between the richest nations and developing countries, if we, as civil society, weren’t here also holding the feet of Global North governments to the fire, we would see much worse outcomes than we are seeing already.

AMY GOODMAN: So, I wanted to play another clip. This is of Azerbaijan’s minister of ecology and natural resources. Mukhtar Babayev is COP29’s president. Previously, he spent 26 years at the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, known as SOCAR. Ahead of the summit, the group Global Witness released covert recordings of Azerbaijan’s COP29 chief executive, Elnur Soltanov, promoting possible fossil fuel deals with someone, well, posing as an investor. The fake investor told Soltanov they were considering sponsoring COP29 in exchange for deals with Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR. This is Soltanov.


ELNUR SOLTANOV: As I said, we have a lot of pipeline infrastructure. We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed. We have a lot of green projects that SOCAR is very interested in. There are a lot of joint ventures that could be established, potential joint ventures. Our SOCAR trading is trading oil and gas all over the world, including in Asia. So, to me, these are the possibilities to explore.

AMY GOODMAN: So, while it’s so critical — again, that was Soltanov thinking he was talking to a fossil fuel exec. In fact, it was someone from Global Witness. But you have at this COP — you could consider them a delegation — the largest delegation here, and that’s of fossil fuel lobbyists. And you have this chief executive making fuel and oil deals while he’s here. So, why do you think you can have an effect, as you talk about the imbalance of power, Asad?

ASAD REHMAN: Well, those very same lobbyists are, of course, affecting our decisions of government at national level as they are at global level. They, of course, want to turn this climate negotiations into a trade fair. They’re coming here to try and strike deals, make bargains and, of course, propose their solutions. You see these lobbyists here calling for carbon capture and storage — unproven, deadly and dangerous technologies — as solutions to the climate crisis.

It’s up to us to be opposing them, to put forward real solutions, to be supporting governments who do want to do the right thing, and say, “We are going to amplify your voice. We’re going to support you. We’re going to raise these issues.” And we’re going to build our movement’s power and make sure we’re making the right call.

AMY GOODMAN: So, the theme is financing. I was just talking to a Kenyan journalist who said Africa is faring very badly here. You’re not wearing the regular COP lanyard. You’re wearing one that says “pay up”?

ASAD REHMAN: “Pay up.” Global civil society came together, and we looked at what the true costs of supporting developing countries to be able to grow cleanly, what the cost of adapting to the climate crisis was, how much the damages were already overwhelming countries in the Global South, and we calculated that that is about $5 trillion a year that the Global North would need to provide to the Global South. That’s just a down payment in the overall cost.

And so, we came here and say, “Look, the only way we’re going to be able to transition fairly, cleanly, the only way that people in the Global South will have the same right to live with dignified lives as people in the Global North, if we have finance and technology being provided.” We made the call for $5 trillion. Developing countries came here and said, “At a base level, the lowest number, we must have $1.4 trillion a year.”

Rich, developed countries are putting pennies on the table. They’re not even talking about billions. They’re talking the private sector will provide this finance. “Open your economies to our big corporations. They will be the answer.” And we know they deliver nothing, nothing in terms of climate action. And, of course, their only goal is to make profit.

AMY GOODMAN: Asad Rehman, we want to thank you for being with us, executive director of War on Want, lead spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition.

Asad Rehman is executive director of War on Want and lead spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition.

COP29 and the quest for an accord acceptable to all

Zaki Abbas in Baku

Published November 16, 2024 

DAWN

At COP29, every day is a ‘leg day’, at least for journalists, who have to run from one block to another, trying to keep up with the various sessions going on simultaneously, all the while trying to get hold of their respective countries’ delegations.

The negotiations, on the other hand, are going nowhere, as the developed and developing worlds bicker over the new climate finance goal, aka the New Collective Quantified Goal.

COP29 was off to a bumpy start since the very first day, and the little headway that has been made is on standards to boost the global carbon market under Article 6.4 of the historic Paris Agreement signed in 2015.

Some of the countries were unhappy with how these guidelines were rushed through without any debate, which may pose a problem at a later stage.

There is, however, little progress on what the carbon markets will look like and how countries will evolve a consensus on carbon credits, which supposedly provide solutions to climate problems.

Controversial carbon markets, non-operationalisation of Loss and Damage fund among key sticking points

By the evening, after a delay of several hours, parties managed to agree in principle on a draft for the new finance goal, but it will be a long time before any final agreement is reached.

Supposedly, the money earned from carbon markets will be part of climate finance — a contentious issue between the North and South — as even after over a decade, its modalities still need to be hammered out.

Interestingly, some Latin American countries such as Venezuela and Ecuador who had opposed such schemes at every climate conference, seemingly gave in this time.

Activists and civil society members at COP29 see these credits as ‘false solutions’, which are not acceptable to them.
Whither loss and damage?

Let’s set aside this controversial topic for a minute. Even the Loss and Damage (L&D) Fund — which was operationalised at COP28 in Dubai — has not picked up steam.

Out of over $700 million in pledges made at the last COP, only $10 million materialised which came from Japan, according to the Loss and Damage Collaboration.

The fund was established at COP27 after 31 years of “inaction, delay and obfuscation by developed country parties since the first proposal for a Loss and Damage finance mechanism was tabled by Vanuatu on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in 1991”.

At present, the fund is empty.

The World Bank, which maintains the secretariat of this fund, says it has no control over the money supposed to be contributed to the account.

Arif Goheer, executive director of the Global Change Impact Study Centre, told Dawn at the Pakistan Pavilion there were losses to the tune of trillions, and the L&D Fund was not equipped to deal with that.

“Loss and Damage does not have even procedures,” Mr Goheer, who is privy to negotiations, said, adding that the fund should be topped up with ample amount of money keeping in view of vulnerabilities of different, especially the most-affected states with no coping capacities.

According to Mr Goheer, since the L&D Fund is for emergencies and natural disasters, it should be given instantly to help the countries cope with it instead of linking it to the project-based funding.

About the negotiations, he said G-77 and China block, which also includes Pakistan, want easy to climate funds as well as easy procedures for accessing them. The talks to agree on a climate finance goal will continue on Saturday, the official added.
Global Stocktake

Similarly, in the first week of COP29, the countries have failed to take the Global Stocktake, which could potentially delay the new NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) which all parties are expected to submit by February 2025.

The global stocktake takes a look at the performance of countries with regard to their NDCs as well as set the stage for the more ambitious ones.

The Adaptation Fund has also hit a stonewall due to significant disagreements between developed and developing countries on adaptation-related matters, particularly the provision of Means of Implem­entation (MOI).

Concerns have been expressed by activist groups at COP29, who believe the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists at the venue is counterproductive as they step up their campaign ‘Weed Out the Snakes’ and ‘Let’s Kick Big Polluters Out’.

According to Rachel Ross, there are almost 1,700 fossil fuel lobbyists at the venue who are “poisoning” climate action.

On the third day of COP29, the Argentine delegation was abruptly pulled out of the conference on the orders of its president, who is a climate denier.

Its neighbour, COP30 host Brazil, has submitted its NDCs and is poised to host the next conference, which is evident from the massive pavilion in Baku.

On Monday, the conference enters its second phase with ministers from different countries coming together to hammer out an agreement acceptable to all.

Produced as part of the 2024 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organised by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Centre for Peace and Security.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2024

Oil execs work COP29 as NGOs slam lobbyist presence

By AFP

November 15, 2024

The presence of oil, gas and coal interests at the climate talks has long been a source of controversy - Copyright AFP/File Alexander NEMENOV

Delphine Paysant with Kelly Macnamara in Paris

Oil executives descended on the COP29 talks in Baku for “energy day” on Friday as environmental groups denounced the presence of fossil fuel industry lobbyists at the UN climate talks.

While negotiators haggle behind closed doors on the key task of increasing climate funds for developing nations, the executives from top oil firms including France’s TotalEnergies are holding events.

The “Kick the Big Polluters Out” (KBPO) coalition of NGOs analysed accreditations at the annual climate confab, calculating that more than 1,700 people linked to fossil fuel interests are in attendance.

“It’s like tobacco lobbyists at a conference on lung cancer,” David Tong from campaign group Oil Change International told AFP.

The presence of oil, gas and coal interests at the climate talks has long been a source of controversy.

The appointment of UAE state oil firm head Sultan Al Jaber to the presidency of last year’s negotiations in Dubai was a lightning rod for criticism.

And this year’s host, energy-rich Azerbaijan, launched a defence of planet-heating fossil fuels, with President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday repeating his insistence that oil, gas and other natural resources are a “gift of God”.

“It’s unfortunate that the fossil fuel industry and the petrostates have seized control of the COP process to an unhealthy degree,” former US vice president and leading climate activist Al Gore said Thursday.

While the Dubai summit produced a global agreement on “transitioning away” from fossil fuels, the follow-up commitment “has been very weak” and the issue “is hardly even mentioned” at COP29, he said.

“I have to think that one of the reasons for that is that the petrostates have too much control over the process,” he said.



– Wrangling on finance –



KBPO said Japan brought employees of coal giant Sumitomo as part of its delegation, Canada included oil producers Suncor and Tourmaline and Italy brought employees of energy giants Eni and Enel.

However, some of those on the NGO list work for companies that are not primarily fossil fuel-related, including Danish offshore wind champion Orsted.

Some 53,000 people have registered to participate in COP29 in Baku, not including technical and support staff, according to the UN.

The top priority at the talks is to agree a new figure for climate finance to help developing countries adapt to climate change and transition their economies away from fossil fuels.

Rich nations are reluctant to spend much more than the $100-billion a year already committed, conscious of domestic publics angry about inflation and stuttering economies.

But developing countries warn they need at least $1 trillion to defend against the ravages of climate change and meet commitments to reach net-zero emissions.

Negotiators are struggling to wrangle a draft text into workable form before ministers arrive next week to start nailing down a deal.

Hanging over proceedings is the question of what role the United States will play on climate action and funding after Trump returns to the White House in January.

He has pledged to again withdraw from the landmark Paris agreement, raising questions about how much US negotiators can really promise and deliver in Baku.

But Gore insisted that “there is so much more momentum that even a new Trump administration is not going to be able to slow it down much,” echoed the line from other Americans at the talks.

“I hope I’m right about that,” he added.

Gore says ‘absurd’ to hold UN climate talks in petrostates


By  AFP
November 15, 2024


Former US vice president Al Gore told AFP fossil fuel industry representatives should go through a 'test' to be allowed to attend UN climate talks - Copyright AFP Kate GILLAM
Julien MIVIELLE

US vice president Al Gore told AFP Friday it was “absurd” for petrostates such as Azerbaijan to host UN climate talks, saying the selection process should be overhauled.

Mukhtar Babayev, a former oil executive who now serves as Azerbaijan’s ecology minister, chairs COP29 in Baku while the country’s leader, Ilham Aliyev, caused a stir this week by calling fossil fuels a “gift of the God”.

It comes after last year’s climate talks in the oil-dependent United Arab Emirates — presided over by the head of its state oil company — also raised hackles among activists.

“I think it is absurd to have these petrostates that are so dependent on continuing the sale of oil and gas be the hosts of these COPs, because it’s hard to miss the fact that they have a direct conflict of interest,” Gore told AFP.

“The president said they’re a gift from God, and I understand his sentiment, but in my opinion we should reform this process,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said.

Azerbaijan was picked to host COP29 after Bulgaria dropped out due to Russian objections to having the conference held in a European Union country.

It was Eastern Europe’s turn to host this year’s Conference of the Parties.

Speaking on the sidelines of the talks in Baku, Gore said the United Nations secretary general should be able to participate in the selection process for cities and COP presidents.

The current process “meant that Russia vetoed everyone except Azerbaijan. And of course, they’re a petrostate also,” said Gore, who is chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a non-profit.



– Trump can’t stop ‘revolution’ –



Gore’s criticism echoed a letter Friday by a group of leading climate activists and scientists, including former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, who warned that the COP process was “no longer fit for purpose”.

They urged smaller, more frequent meetings, strict criteria for host countries and rules to ensure companies showed clear climate commitments before being allowed to send lobbyists to the talks.

“I think that there should be a test for who is qualified to be a delegate to these COPs. Are they coming to try to find a solution or are they coming in order to block a solution?” Gore said.

Oil and gas industry representatives should be scrutinised to see if they are committed to phasing out fossil fuels, and if they are “truth tellers” or “have a record of lying about the climate crisis”, he said.

His comments came as a coalition of NGOs, “Kick the Big Polluters Out”, said it calculated that more than 1,700 people linked to fossil fuel interests are in attendance at COP29.

“Why should representatives of the biggest polluters in the world have more delegates than the largest national delegation, more delegates than the 10 most affected countries in the world?” Gore said.

“I think it’s absurd. And I do think that the whole process needs to be reformed.”

COP29 attendees are also worried about the future of US climate efforts as Trump has vowed to withdraw from the Paris agreement again.

But Gore downplayed concerns, saying his return to the White House would not “meaningfully slow” the clean energy “revolution”.

“The election of Trump may slow things slightly,” Gore said, but the energy transition is “unstoppable”.

Trump’s Republican allies tread lightly on Paris pact at COP29


By AFP
November 16, 2024

Texas Congressman August Pfluger said US voters had given Trump a mandate to bring costs down - Copyright AFP/File Alexander NEMENOV, Ting Shen

Laurent Thomet and Ivan Couronne

Donald Trump’s Republican allies in Congress showed up at UN climate talks to tout natural gas and nuclear energy, but they tiptoed around the elephant in the room: a looming US withdrawal from the Paris agreement.

President Joe Biden’s climate envoys have sought to reassure delegates in Baku this week, telling them that Trump’s planned pullout from the pact would have little impact on the global battle against climate change.

The handful of Republican lawmakers who made the trip to Azerbaijan’s capital on Saturday represent states that are home to oil fields, coal mines and auto manufacturing.

Morgan Griffith, a congressman from Ohio and member of the House energy committee, told AFP that he has supported the Paris agreement in the past.

Asked if he would back a withdrawal, he said: “We don’t want get in front of the president.

“It just depends on, you know, what we deem is in the best interest of the United States,” he added.

Under the Paris agreement, signatories aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 in the hope of reaching the ideal target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

The Republicans, with their backing of the oil and gas sectors, offered a contrasting vision of the fight against climate change to many of the delegates and activists attending the COP29 conference.



– Restore US ‘energy dominance’ –



“In our country there’s a blind rush just to eliminate all fossil fuels and I don’t think that’s practical for the developing world or the already industrialised world,” Griffith said.

Texas Congressman August Pfluger, who led the House energy committee delegation, said the US election had sent a clear signal.

“The people in the United States overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump and his promise to restore American energy dominance,” Pfluger said at a news conference.

When asked about the Paris agreement, Pfluger said American voters “spoke very loud and clear” about their desire to see inflation come under control when they elected Trump on November 5.

“Energy is the foundation of that,” he added.

“If an agreement is going to hurt, if something is going to actually decrease our ability to do that, then we would want to look at that. But that’s for the president to say.”



– ‘Protect’ tax credits –



At the US pavilion in the cavernous stadium housing the conference, Griffith and two other congressmen, including a Democrat, sang the praises of nuclear energy as part of the solutions to lowering global emissions.

Heather Reams, president of the Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, a conservative non-profit that engages Republicans on climate policy, moderated the panel.

She told AFP that her organisation wants the United States to remain in the Paris agreement as it was “symbolic in a lot of ways for the United States to be a leader” on climate.

US officials and Democrats told COP29 delegates that the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits and clean energy investments in Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, would cushion the blow from Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris pact.

“We are very supportive of those tax credits,” Reams said.

“We intend to try to protect them and make the case to… the new administration and with Republicans in Congress.”

Pfluger said any parts of the IRA incompatible with the goal of lowering prices for Americans would be “looked at” by the next Republican-led Congress in January.


– ‘Negative’ impact –


On the other side of the US political divide, Democratic Senator Ed Markey said the Biden administration could “get as much of the IRA money out the door as it can” before handing the White House keys to Trump in January.

Fellow Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said the United States could also deliver its new emissions-reduction target for 2035 to the United Nations before Trump takes office.

But Trump will still have a “negative” impact on climate, the senator told reporters.

Democrats in Congress will have a hard time blocking Trump’s nominees for energy and environment posts as the minority party.

“A good deal of it is out of our hands,” Whitehouse said.

Fragile countries make $20bn climate finance push at COP29, letter says

Reuters Published November 15, 2024 

Emergency physician Joe Vipond, a member of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), poses for photographers with a model of the globe as he stands for support of climate agenda during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), in Baku, Azerbaijan on November 15. — Reuters

A group of conflict-affected countries is pushing at COP29 to double financial aid to more than $20 billion a year and combat the natural disaster and security crises facing their populations, a letter seen by Reuters showed.

The group is one of several pitching at the climate talks in Azerbaijan this week for funds to better prepare for the impacts of extreme weather as countries seek to agree to a new annual target on financing.

Island nations, for example, argue climate change threatens their very existence as seas rise, while rainforest nations say they need more money to protect their vast carbon sinks.

Countries mired in conflict and its aftermath say they have struggled to access private investment, as they are seen as too risky. That means UN funds are even more critical to their populations, many of whom have been displaced by war and weather.


In response, the COP29 Azerbaijan Presidency on Friday will launch a new ‘Network of Climate-vulnerable Countries’, including a number of countries that belong to the g7+, an intergovernmental group of fragile countries, which first sent the appeal.

The network aims to advocate as a group with climate finance institutions; build capacity in member states so they can absorb more finance; and create country platforms so investors can more easily find high-impact projects in which to invest, said think tank ODI Global, which helped the countries create the network.

Burundi, Chad, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Timor-Leste and Yemen have already joined the initiative, but all 20 members of the g7+ have been invited. “My hope is it will create a real platform for the countries in need,” said Abdullahi Khalif, chief climate negotiator for Somalia on the sidelines of the Baku talks.

The move follows a letter sent by the g7+ to the United Nations, World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund and COP presidencies last month, and shared exclusively with Reuters, asking for more support.

In it, the group demanded an explicit commitment in any final deal on finance at COP29 that would double financing to help them adapt to climate change to at least a collective $20 billion per year by 2026.

While 45 of the world’s least developed countries have their own UN negotiating group, which includes some of the g7+ countries, conflict-affected states face distinct struggles, advocates said.

“A flood situation in South Sudan or Somalia creates more catastrophe than it would in any other developing country,” said Habib Mayar, g7+ deputy general secretary, who helped coordinate the letter.

A child born in South Sudan, which has been mired in war since 2013, was 38 times more likely in 2022 to be internally displaced by climate-related disasters than a European or North American child, according to Unicef data.

Yet conflict-affected countries received only $8.4bn in climate funding in 2022 about a quarter of what was needed, according to a 2024 analysis by ODI Global.

“It’s clear that climate funds aren’t doing enough to support the world’s most climate vulnerable people,” said Mauricio Vazquez, ODI Global’s head of policy for global risks and resilience, said.

Climate ambition gap

Aisha Khan 

Published November 15, 2024 

DAWN

AS the world inches closer to catastrophe, all eyes are on the Conference of Parties (COP) taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The opening speeches from the COP28 UAE presidency, COP29 Azer presidency, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) executive secretary all made the links between climate action and finance needs.

Climate finance was at the heart of the agenda, with parties eager to discuss means of implementation to support delivery of the Global Stock-take outcome. Political engagement to break the gridlock on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) will be crucial for countries to enhance ambition on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) 3.0 to meet mitigation and adaptation targets.

The NDC announcements from the UAE and Brazil are welcome signals from two of the COP troika on their commitments to multilateral climate action. However, the troika countries collectively plan to expand oil and gas production by 32 per cent by 2035 (Brazil 36pc, UAE 34pc, and Azerbaijan 14pc).

With a packed agenda and only two weeks to move the needle on critical and contentious issues, it is important to reflect on facts and figures to develop a better understanding of the state of play and what’s at stake.

It is important to reflect on facts and figures to develop a better understanding of the state of play and what’s at stake.

The report on Doubling Adaptation Finance, released by the developed countries, states that the developed countries provided and mobilised a total of $32.4 billion in adaptation finance in 2022, including a total of $28.9bn in international public finance, an increase of nearly 23pc over 2021 levels and 54pc over 2019 levels. According to the report, significant progress has been made towards doubling adaptation finance from 2019 levels in the first three years of available data, and efforts are on track to reach $40bn by 2025.

The International Energy Agency acknowledges the momentum on decarbonisation, with record rollout of renewable energy and a scaling-up of electric vehicles, but expresses concern that the progress is not enough to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold alive. The IEA finds that governments are still responsible for around $1 trillion of energy sector investment today and will need to increase net-zero investments by about 40pc by 2035.

The World Meteorological Organisation report outlines that CO2 concentrations have increased 11.4pc in just 20 years, with the long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere locking in future temperature increase.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that in 2022, developed countries provided and mobilised a total of $115.9bn in climate finance for developing countries. This occurred with a delay of two years from the original 2020 target, but public finance accounted for close to 80pc of the total in 2022, and increased from $38bn in 2013 to $91.6bn in 2022. Mitigation continued to account for 60pc of the total and public climate finance grew by 52pc following several years of stagnation.

The Biennial Assessment of Climate Finance Flows prepared by the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance states that global climate finance flows in 2021-2022 increased by 63pc compared to those in 2019-2020, reaching an annual average of $1.3tr, and tracked adaptation finance increased by 28pc to an annual average of $63bn in 2021-2022. The report acknowledges that more than half of the global climate finance was provided in the form of debt instruments, while grant finance more than doubled in absolute terms but still accounted for only 6pc of the total flow.

The UN Trade and Development report on the NCQG outlines the climate finance needed from the developed countries to developing countries to meet the Paris Agreement goals. It concludes that the developing countries require $1.1tr in climate finance from 2025, rising to around $1.8tr by 2030. Based on these numbers, developed countries should anticipate a funding equivalent of three quarters of the investments needed in developing countries for climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as supporting response to climate-induced loss and damage.

Accordingly, the NCQG contribution target for developed countries should be around $0.89tr in 2025, reaching up to $1.46tr by the fifth year of implementation. This would imply a target for around 1.4pc of developed countries’ GDP per year from 2025 until 2030, and then reviewed to make it equivalent to around 2pc of developing countries’ GDP.

And finally, the United Nations Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap Report 2024 raises alarm with its findings that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions grew by 1.3pc year-on-year to 57.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023. The mitigation pledges for 2030-2035 are not on track and need to be 26 gigatons of carbon dioxide lower for a warming limit of 1.5ºC.

Clearly, the ambition gap is widening, the need gap growing and the window of opportunity shrinking. GHG emissions are dangerously high and cash flows dismally small and slow. It is unlikely that COP29 will succeed in issuing a declaration that satisfies everyone. However, the goal of 1.5 still remains within reach but delay in action is not an option.

For Pakistan, the current temperature trends mean an increase in climate-induced hazards, more loss and damage, and a higher risk of sinking deeper into a debt and poverty trap.

It is time to reconcile with reality and accept the fact that total reliance on external support for succour is not a gamble that the country can afford.

Pakistan needs to reset its priorities and align them with the national security policy, making geo-economics and governance reforms its top action agenda. Now is perhaps the last opportunity for making long-term strategic choices to prepare the country for a future with a new socioeconomic and political climate.

The writer is the chief executive of the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change.
aisha@csccc.org.pk

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2024

Optimising COP29

Gulmina Bilal Ahmad 

Published November 14, 2024 

DAWN

THE global demand for skilled workers in green technologies is growing. This is important for Pakistan, where climate change and environmental degradation are urgent concerns. Green Technical and Vocational Education and Training is vital for developing skills needed to make key industries sustainable. However, substantial challenges remain in fully integrating Green TVET into the national development framework.

With COP29 in Baku focused on climate action and sustainable workforce development, Pakistan has an opportunity to formalise Green TVET strategies. Indeed, the country’s vulnerability to climate change underscores the need for Green TVET. Pakistan is among the top 10 countries most affected by the impact of climate change. It accrues an annual loss of $3.8 billion due to extreme weather events. The industrial and agricultural sectors, contributing more than 40 per cent of GDP and employing over 60pc of the workforce, are heavily reliant on obsolete, environmentally damaging practices, thus making it critical to transition to eco-friendly methods.

However, in adopting Green TVT, Pakistan will face several structural and economic hurdles, one challenge being the absence of a comprehensive national policy connecting green economic goals to vocational training. Although environmental concerns have been partially addressed in the National Climate Change Policy, the latter does not prioritise workforce development for green sectors. This indicates an institutional disconnect with organisations that are attempting to bridge the gap by integrating green skills into their programmes.

Incorporating green skills requires strategic focus and institutional coordination. For instance, the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission has introduced some foundational green skills, aimed at building awareness of sustainable practices. However, these efforts require substantial expansion.


Industry demand for green skills remains low in Pakistan.

At COP29, where global leaders are discussing climate action and workforce development, Pakistan can advocate for Green TVET on an international platform. Efforts of organisations, such as the NAVTTC, could benefit from aligning with frameworks emerging from the climate conference, potentially securing commitments for funding and support from international partners. Such alliances could enable them to expand Green TVET programming and help Pakistan achieve both its climate and economic objectives.

There is also not much awareness of or demand for green skills among employers. Many industries lack an understanding of the benefits of green skills; their motivation to adopt sustainable practices is thus reduced. Critical sectors, including the construction industry and agriculture, still depend on resource-intensive methods, as they perceive the transition costs to be high. For instance, the construction sector, which contributes over 2pc to GDP, often resorts to energy-inefficient practices, while agriculture — the largest employment sector — has been slow to adopt climate-smart techniques.

These challenges deter TVET institutions from investing in green training programmes as industry demand for these skills remains low. Creating awareness and a demand for green skills within industries requires focused outreach and partnerships to educate employers on the long-term economic benefits of sustainable practices.

Many vocational institutions also lack modern equipment, which is essential for teaching technologies, such as those related to solar panel installation or sustainable agriculture practices. Nearly half our TVET institutions are under-resour­c­­ed, highlighting an immediate need to upgrade facilities to meet the demands of a green economy. Securing these up­­grades is challenging as budget allocations are limited. Pakistan’s TVET se­­­ctor receives around 2.5pc of the national education budget, which would need to be scaled up in order to match countries that prioritise vocational training. Private sector investment in green skills training is also minimal, and although international funding options, such as the Green Climate Fund, exist, Pakistan has to do much more to access these resources.

Investing in Green TVET can speed up both economic growth and environmental resilience. By establishing cohesive policies, raising industry awareness, securing funding, and promoting TVET, Pakistan can build a workforce capable of supporting sustainable development in core sectors of the economy. This shift will not only reduce Pakistan’s environmental footprint but also position the country as a proactive participant in the global green economy, aligning with COP29’s objectives and working towards a more sustainable future.

The writer is the chairperson of the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission.

chairperson@navttc.gov.pk

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

COP29 host tries to calm waters after diplomatic turmoil

By AFP
November 14, 2024

Azerbaijan's lead negotiator at COP29 said 'our doors are still open' after France's environment minister cancelled her trip - Copyright AFP/File Alexander NEMENOV

Delphine PAYSANT, Laurent THOMET

Host Azerbaijan tried to bring down the diplomatic temperature in Baku on Thursday after a French minister cancelled her trip to the UN climate talks and Argentina withdrew its delegation.

While negotiators work behind closed doors at the COP29 talks to trash out a climate finance deal, the spotlight has been largely stolen by diplomatic turmoil.

France’s Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said Wednesday she would not travel to Baku after Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev accused Paris of colonial “crimes” and “human rights violations” in its overseas territories.

Pannier-Runacher called his speech “unacceptable… and beneath the dignity of the presidency of the COP.”

It was also a “flagrant violation of the code of conduct” for running United Nations climate talks, she added.

Attempting to calm the waters on Thursday, COP29 lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev insisted that Azerbaijan had fostered “an inclusive process”.

“We have opened our doors to everybody to come to engage in very constructive, fruitful discussions,” he told reporters.

“Our doors are still open.”

Relations between Paris and Baku have long been tense over France’s support for Azerbaijan’s arch-rival Armenia.

Azerbaijan defeated Armenia in a lightning offensive last year when it retook the breakaway Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh — leading to an exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians.



– ‘Diplomatic matter’ –



Aliyev has hailed the victory in remarks to delegates and also raised eyebrows by insisting natural resources including carbon-emitting fossil fuels were a “gift from God”.

The EU’s climate commissioner said the climate talks “should be a place where all parties feel at liberty to come and negotiate.”

“The COP Presidency has a particular responsibility to enable and enhance that,” Wopke Hoekstra posted on X.

Compounding the diplomatic turmoil, Argentina’s delegation was abruptly pulled from the talks.

An environment ministry source confirmed the departure but declined to offer more detail.

Argentina’s anti-establishment President Javier Milei has made no secret of his scepticism of climate change and is an ally of newly reelected former US president Donald Trump.

While Argentina’s delegation was small, its departure “is unprecedented in the country’s diplomatic history”, said Oscar Soria, an Argentine environmental activist and director of the Common Initiative.

Rafiyev declined to be drawn on the departure, terming it a “diplomatic matter between Argentina and the UN”.

“We hope that all who are attending here have only one intention, to come to join us in this collective effort to get an outcome that is positive,” he added.



– ‘Some uncertainty’ –



But progress on the key goal of the talks — a new climate finance deal — is proving grindingly slow.

The main fault line is clear: how much should developed countries pay to help poorer nations adapt to climate change and transition away from fossil fuels.

Rich nations are reluctant to spend much more than the $100-billion a year already committed, conscious of domestic publics angry about inflation and stuttering economies.

But developing countries warn they need at least $1 trillion to defend against the ravages of climate change and meet commitments to reach net-zero emissions.

Sources described ongoing discussions as difficult, with negotiators struggling to wrestle a draft text into a reasonable form before ministers arrive in a few days to start nailing down a deal.

“At this pace we won’t be able to deliver something meaningful by Saturday as initially requested by the presidency,” warned Fernanda de Carvalho, climate policy lead at WWF.

Hanging over proceedings is the question of what role the United States will play on climate action and funding after Trump returns to the White House in January.

He has pledged to again withdraw from the landmark Paris agreement, raising questions about how much US negotiators can really promise and deliver in Baku.

“I think it’s fair to say that there’s some uncertainty in the next administration,” conceded Jake Levine, the White House’s senior director for climate and energy.

But the need to “project American values” would be a powerful driver for continued climate funding and action despite Trump’s return, he added.

“We cannot cede the playing field to China, to our competitors… So I think that you will see a continued American presence.”

As COP29 begins, some voice concerns over religious freedom in host country Azerbaijan

(RNS) — When RNS reached out to the faith groups that have had a leading presence at recent COPs for comment on how they would approach their work given religious liberty violations, most were silent.

Activists demonstrate for climate justice and a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Aleja Hertzler-McCain
November 11, 2024

(RNS) — Global leaders, diplomats and climate advocates are gathering to hammer out climate finance agreements at the latest U.N. climate summit being held today (Nov. 11) through Nov. 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan. But the host country for the annual summit has come under international scrutiny for human rights and religious freedom violations, leading some activists to question why there has not been more pushback from the global climate advocates, including faith organizations.

Days before COP29, the climate summit, began, the Azerbaijani government held a summit of religious leaders working on climate issues, calling itself “well-known for its traditions of tolerance, multicultural values and inter-civilizational and inter-religious cooperation,” even as outside observers have repeatedly raised concerns about religious freedom in the former Soviet country.

The government, led by President Ilham Aliyev, part of a family that has led the Muslim-majority country since 1993, requires religious groups to register with the government in order to operate legally. In the last two years, the number of religious activists who are being held as political prisoners has sharply increased, according to Azerbaijani watchdog Institute for Peace and Democracy, part of a broader escalation of a campaign of repression that has also led to the arrests of journalists and other opposition figures.

The country, funded in large part by fossil fuel revenues, has strengthened its army and recently carried out what the European Parliament called an “ethnic cleansing” of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which though internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, had been governed by ethnic Armenians since the fall of the Soviet Union. Armenians, who trace their heritage to the establishment of the oldest Christian nation, have called attention to Azerbaijani destruction of their religious sites in the region, even as the Azerbaijani government has said Armenians have destroyed Azerbaijani religious sites.

These concerns helped Azerbaijan land on the U.S. Commission of International Religious Freedom’s 2024 “countries of particular concern” list, its designation for governments that engage in or tolerate “particularly severe” violations of religious freedom.

But when RNS reached out to the faith groups that have had a leading presence at recent COPs for comment on how they would approach their work given these concerns over religious liberty, most were silent.

Azerbaijan, red, is located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

 (Map courtesy Wikimedia/Creative Commons)

Of the core team of faith groups organizing faith activities at the last COP, the World Evangelical Alliance, the Episcopal Diocese of California and the Muslim Council of Elders, none responded to requests for comment.

(After this story was published, the Episcopal Church issued a press release saying it “seeks to balance the urgency of climate change with concerns about ongoing human rights violations in Azerbaijan,” and noting that its government relations office sent an action alert urging Episcopalians to ask their congressional representatives to vote for the Supporting Armenians Against Azerbaijani Aggression Act of 2023.)

The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development and the Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development declined to respond to requests for comment, with PaRD citing its small team and limited resources. Several other faith groups that took secondary roles also did not respond.

The Rev. John Pawlikowski, a professor emeritus of social ethics at Catholic Theological Union, said that in the months leading up to the U.S. election, “there’s a fear right now on the part of some in the religious community to publicly criticize the COP” because it might encourage now President-elect Donald Trump to pull out of the process.

The Servite priest, also a member of the climate action task force of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, said he knew of religious actors who had boycotted previous COPs where there were limits on what participants could say about local human rights and intended to boycott the summit in Azerbaijan. Nonetheless, he said the majority believe in continuing with some level of involvement.

As a formal party to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Vatican, Pawlikowski said, “could raise the human rights issues more strongly and the religious liberty issues more strongly than it has.”

However, Pawlikowski said that the religious groups that participate in the COPs are not ignoring religious liberty but simply making a strategic decision not to pursue the issue during COP.

For some of the religious groups impacted by the Azerbaijani government’s repression, the silence of faith groups attending COP29 is a bitter betrayal.

“When something is happening to the first Christian nation in the world, they don’t care,” said Arshak Makichyan, an ethnic Armenian climate activist who lost his Russian citizenship after speaking out against the war in Ukraine. The Armenian Apostolic Christian, who said his faith sustains his activism, is an icon of the Russian climate movement because of his solo protests as part of Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement and his arrest in Russia for those protests after attending COP25 in 2019.

“What is happening to Armenians is really terrible and we need international solidarity,” he said, warning he worries that Azerbaijan will be emboldened to go to war with Armenia.

The activist sees Armenian issues as a natural part of the COP discussion of Indigenous issues. “If you have been colonized by Western countries, then it is colonization, but if you were colonized by Turkey or Azerbaijan, then it’s not colonization,” he said of Western people’s ignorance of Armenian history, which included centuries of Ottoman control and repression before between 600,000 and 1. 5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire during World War I, in what is widely considered a genocide.

Makichyan had planned to go back to COP this year, but he said Azerbaijan denied his visa, even after he said the United Nations had approved his accreditation for the event.

Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 president, speaks during an opening plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The U.S. embassy of Azerbaijan and the U.N. Framework Convention of Climate Change offices did not respond to RNS’ requests for comment on the denial of Makichyan’s visa.

Makichyan explained, “I think it’s really important to raise the Armenian issue at the conference,” saying he was motivated to go “even though my grandfather’s uncle was killed in Baku, and though my grandparents, they were deported from Nakhchivan,” part of modern-day Azerbaijan.

Makichyan is part of a group calling for the international community at COP29 to demand the release of Armenian and other political prisoners held by the Azerbaijani government, sanctions, the right of return for “Artsakh Armenians to Indigenous lands,” an end to anti-Armenian destruction of cultural heritage and propaganda and divestment from Azerbaijani oil, in addition to a commitment to cease holding COPs in countries with political prisoners.

Azerbaijan has dismissed international concerns about religious freedom in the country as holding pro-Armenian bias.

Kamal Gasimov, a researcher on Islam in Azerbaijan who is currently visiting assistant professor of Arabic at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, said the USCIRF report should have cited third-party sources instead of relying on Armenian scholars to write about Armenian monuments.

Gasimov said the USCIRF report is a “political document,” which is indicative of relationships between Azerbaijan and the U.S. Some Azeris see the document as evidence of U.S. imperialism, while others whose family members are imprisoned are grateful for it, he said.

Mohamed Elsanousi, a commissioner who joined USCIRF after the most recent report’s deliberation process had been completed, said, “Our aim here is not really to blame and shame countries. Our aim is to improve religious freedom.”

USCIRF is made up of appointees by the U.S. president and congressional leaders. A minority of four dissented the Azerbaijan decision, expressing concerns that the country should be given a less severe designation for its religious freedom violations.

Despite controversy over the report, Gasimov said the Azerbaijani government plays a significant role regulating religion in the Muslim-majority country, adapting an approach from the Soviet Union that is common across post-Soviet countries.

“If you are a registered religious community within the state institution, the state gives you a passport, then you exist. If the state refuses your registration, then you don’t exist,” he said.

The goal is “making Islam part of the state bureaucracy, which makes Islam predictable,” as well as “easily observed” and “controlled.” They also accomplish this by “controlling books” and “trying to co-opt the religious leaders, charismatic leaders, (by) offering them jobs in the government.”

RELATED: USCIRF chair rebukes Azerbaijan for imprisoned Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector

Other religious groups, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, have not been able to register. Jehovah’s Witnesses also highlight that the state has not followed through on its stated exemptions to compulsory military service for conscientious objectors, with some believers experiencing beatings and legal sentences.

While USCIRF cites the 2009 Azerbaijani law requiring registration as a major source of the violation of international human rights standards, Gasimov said the Arab Spring protests motivated the government to double down on control in the name of preventing radicalization and legitimized those actions by juxtaposing “the security of Azerbaijan with what’s happening in the Middle East.”

Azerbaijani watchdog Institute for Peace and Democracy says that the majority of the 319 political prisoners in the Muslim-majority country are “peaceful believers,” coming in at 228, which includes members of the Muslim Unity Movement and other Muslim theologians. Before early 2023, the number of religious political prisoners had been below 100.

Elsanousi said USCIRF had some documentation that “law enforcement also utilized and threatened torture, sexual assaults, and other mistreatment toward non-conforming Shia Muslims in the state custody.”

The Muslim Unity Movement, a Shia group, gained popularity, according to Gasimov, by mixing their religious discourse with concerns about social issues, like bribery and police violence.

Makichyan said that Azerbaijan has previously used “greenwashing,” or a type of spin that portrays the country as an environmental protector, to get away with human rights violations, including against ethnic Armenians.

Looking forward, he emphasized the importance of religious pluralism. As a Christian who knows of genocides that Muslim Indigenous groups have lived through, “it’s really important to be against Islamophobia because we Armenians, hopefully we will be able to return to western Armenia also and try to coexist with other people,” he said.

This story has been updated.