Most opposition parties ditch UN climate change conference in Azerbaijan, citing human rights concerns

Most of the opposition parties on Parliament Hill are ditching the high-profile annual United Nations conference on climate change this year, citing human rights concerns in the host country Azerbaijan little more than a year after the mass exodus of nearly 120,000 ethnic Armenians from their homes in the once-disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

“It’s the first time that no Green MPs will be attending intentionally, as the result of the choice of the host country,” said Kitchener-Centre Green Party MP Mike Morrice.

Morrice said Azerbaijan’s credibility as host of COP29 is questionable, given that it’s a major oil producer. But he said “it’s the reality of the ethnic cleansing of Armenians that makes this choice all the more appalling.”

He called on the federal government to limit its participation to a small number of representatives, with no elected officials other than Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.

A Canadian-Armenian political advocacy group, the Armenian National Committee of Canada, says only Canadian public servants should attend and elected officials should stay away.

“Countries with the record that Azerbaijan has, on its own standing, should not be the host,” Morrice said.

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

“There are significant human rights concerns in Azerbaijan where COP29 is being hosted. The NDP won’t be attending,” the NDP said.

The Bloc Québécois said its environment and climate change critics are not available to travel.

The Bloc’s climate-change critic, MP Kristina Michaud, told CBC News she’s not attending because she does not want to travel long distances while pregnant, and also because of the Armenian exodus.

“I consider myself an ally of Armenia,” she said, “and therefore I have a deep discomfort going to Azerbaijan.” 

She said it’s awkward for the UN to hold climate-change conferences in fossil fuel-producing countries two years in a row, after the United Arab Emirates hosted in 2023.

“The unease was present in Dubai last year, and I dare believe it will be the same in Baku this year,” she said. “Despite this, I continue to believe our presence at this international forum is essential, but it will be without me this year.”

Cabinet attendance unclear

In a statement issued last week, Guilbeault’s office told CBC News no decision has been made yet “but it is most likely the minister will be able to attend.”

Guilbeault has criticized Azerbaijan’s fossil fuel record in the past.

“We expect from countries that host international meetings like climate change meetings or biodiversity meetings like we did to make sure that they don’t put their own interests ahead of international interests,” he told journalists before a cabinet meeting in June.

“We’re not going to Azerbaijan to promote Azerbaijan’s own interest. We’re going there to work together, to make sure that we come to a mutual solution to fight climate change and to reduce our dependencies on fossil fuels.”

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

In September, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly issued a statement to mark last year’s events in Nagorno-Karabakh, stating that “more than 100,000 civilians, including 30,000 children, were forcibly displaced to Armenia” as a result of Azerbaijan’s military operation, which she called “unjustified.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two major wars in the last three and a half decades over the enclave, which had a majority Armenian population but is part of Azerbaijan under international law. A self-declared Armenian republic on the territory, unrecognized by the UN, dissolved last year after the exodus.

The two countries have been locked in a slow peace process since. Baku has said Armenians who escaped last year are welcome to return to Azerbaijan under its rule, though there also have been multiple reports of Azerbaijani forces razing Armenian homes and cultural sites. No one has reportedly taken up the Azerbaijani government’s offer of return.

“Canada must make it clear that it stands against the exploitation of global platforms such as COP29 by autocratic regimes seeking to cleanse their image,” Sevag Belian of the Armenian National Committee of Canada told a news conference Tuesday.

The Armenian government itself supported Azerbaijan hosting COP29.

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