Call for a 'truce'

At Azerbaijan's COP, peace and climate are intertwined - precisely because they won the right to hold the event by walking the road to peace

- HIKMET HAJIYEV

In one month, Azerbaijan will host COP29, the world's annual climate summit, with a sense of optimism that a crucial international deal on climate finance is within reach. Despite the turbulent state of world affairs, concerns over the health of our planet rank as highly as issues of global stability, security, and peace.

Because of this confluence, Azerbaijan has called for a “COP truce.” Based on the ancient idea of the Olympic truce, this represents a plea for countries to observe a pause in conflict while nations negotiate remedies for the climate emergency on the planet we all share. Some might believe this overambitious. Maybe. But when the COP29 meeting in Baku is itself the product of a truce - one few believed possible - it would be a mistake for us not to try.

At Azerbaijan's COP, peace and climate are intertwined - precisely because we won the right to hold the event by walking the road to peace. Late last year there was still no host country agreed. It was the turn of an Eastern European nation, yet one country had publicly announced it would veto any EU member; another group of countries pledged to veto Russia; and Armenia - our neighbor who occupied our territories for 30 years - declared they would veto Azerbaijan.