COP29 is more than just another climate summit in the global calendar—it is a stage for autocrats like Aliyev to masquerade as champions of sustainability while maintaining the extractive practices and authoritarianism that define their rule along with corporate jugglers. Therefore, Aliyev’s actions are merely an extension of a larger, systemic problem embedded within the very structure of the COP framework itself. Since its inception, the COP process has been dominated by powerful states and corporate interests that have consistently hijacked the climate agenda, turning it into a marketplace for greenwashing, where profits and political interests take precedence over genuine solutions to the climate crisis.
An Arena for Global Power and Greenwashing
From the first COP in 1995 to now, the annual climate summits have been portrayed as critical moments for global cooperation on climate action. Yet, over nearly three decades, they have achieved little in addressing the root causes of the climate crisis—colonialism, capitalist exploitation, and state violence. Instead, these conferences have been hijacked by powerful states, transnational corporations, and financial institutions that use them as platforms to advance their economic agendas under the guise of environmental stewardship.
The rhetoric of "green growth," "net-zero by 2050," and "market-based solutions" that dominate COP negotiations are designed to maintain the status quo, where the richest countries and corporations continue to extract resources from the Global South while paying lip service to sustainability. These mechanisms, like carbon markets, carbon offsets, and corporate-led nature conservation, do not challenge the destructive systems that cause climate chaos. Instead, they provide a convenient way for polluters to greenwash their image while expanding their control over land, resources, and people.
COPs have become spectacles of performative concern—stages where world leaders and CEOs make grand promises, unveil flashy initiatives, and showcase corporate partnerships, all while the destruction of ecosystems, exploitation of labor, and violations of Indigenous rights continue unabated. The very concept of "net-zero" has been co-opted to justify continued pollution, allowing corporations to buy their way out of responsibility through carbon credits and dubious offset schemes. In reality, these so-called "solutions" are nothing more than a smokescreen, masking the extractive and profit-driven agendas at the core of the global economic system.
Greenwashing: A Core Feature, Not a Bug
Greenwashing isn’t an accidental by-product of the COP framework; it’s a core feature. Year after year, fossil fuel lobbyists, corporate think tanks, and representatives of major polluters flood the COPs, shaping policy discussions and derailing any efforts toward systemic change. In 2021, at COP26 in Glasgow, there were more fossil fuel industry representatives than delegates from any single country. This illustrates how the conference has become a playground for the very industries responsible for driving the climate crisis. They are not there to change course; they are there to ensure that the market-based and technocratic solutions they advocate continue to serve their interests.
This pervasive greenwashing extends to states that participate in the COP, especially authoritarian regimes like Azerbaijan. By hosting COP29, Aliyev isn’t just seeking economic gain—he’s positioning himself as a key player in global climate politics, a move that serves to entrench his power both domestically and internationally. For Aliyev, presenting Azerbaijan as a green energy hub, promoting renewables, and claiming to support the global energy transition are strategies to secure Western investments while deflecting attention from his regime’s ongoing repression and environmental destruction. COP29 offers him the perfect opportunity to sanitize his image while continuing to exploit Azerbaijan’s natural resources in the same extractivist manner that has defined his rule.
Stage for Authoritarianism and Corporate Power
COPs have increasingly become platforms where autocrats and corporations converge to dictate the terms of the global climate agenda. The participation of oppressive regimes, whether it’s Aliyev’s Azerbaijan or other dictatorships, is not an aberration—it is emblematic of how COPs serve power rather than people or climate. These summits allow regimes to present themselves as progressive and environmentally conscious while brutalizing their populations and plundering their lands. In this sense, the COP process does not challenge global power imbalances; it reinforces them.
The emphasis on "climate finance" at these conferences is also telling. The billions in funding pledged at COPs often end up flowing back to multinational corporations and financial institutions rather than to the frontline communities bearing the brunt of climate impacts. Whether it's green bonds, climate funds, or public-private partnerships, the underlying logic remains the same: profit-driven solutions that benefit the wealthy while marginalizing those who have contributed the least to the climate crisis.
For Aliyev, the stakes at COP29 are high. Securing energy deals, attracting foreign capital, and reinforcing his geopolitical relevance are vital to maintaining his authoritarian rule. By sanitizing dissent and creating a sterilized narrative of green progress, Aliyev hopes to win the approval of Western powers and international investors. The crackdown on civil society, media blackouts, and the suppression of environmental movements all aim to create a controlled environment where no critical voices disrupt the carefully constructed image of Azerbaijan as a climate leader. But this façade is only possible because the COP process itself is complicit in enabling regimes like Aliyev’s to use climate rhetoric as a cover for their oppressive agendas.
The government knows that international attention is on Baku, and any sign of dissent could undermine the image of stability and progress that Aliyev seeks to project. By repressing dissent, the regime attempts to create an illusion of unity and control, masking the deep social and political discontent simmering beneath the surface.
But this crackdown isn’t just about silencing dissent in the run-up to COP29; it’s part of a broader strategy to maintain control over a restless population. The persistent economic precarity, growing inequality, and lack of political freedom are driving discontent. Yet, instead of addressing these grievances, the regime relies on heavy-handed tactics to keep the population in line. The narrative is always the same: "Enemies are everywhere"—whether it's Armenians, West, NGOs and activists. By manufacturing these threats, Aliyev justifies his repression while keeping society fragmented and fearful, while securing a ground for his international business partners.
To be continued...
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